MAKING PLACES INBETWEEN—Resisting and Inhabiting Border Regimes
BOOK + EXHIBITION
+ Vinyl released
The book (Open Access) can be downloaded in ︎ transcript Verlag
Book Launch + Vernissage: September 17th 2026 at 18:00 with Collective Vinyl Listening / Waterscape Performance︎
PROGRAM
September 17th–25th, 2026
Book Launch + Vernissage September 17th at 18:00
19:00 Book conversation between hn.lyonga and Melanie Garland
20:00 Collective Listening Session / Waterscape Performance — Vinyl released
Finissage September 24th at 18:00
19:30 Collective Vinyl Listening Session
Workshops/Activations (see below descriptions)
September 19th at 15:00 - Multimodal workshop
September 20th - artwork activations (14:00-18:00)
Dear community,
We are delighted to invite you to the week-long exhibition Making Places Inbetween, taking place from September 17th to 25th, 2026, at Bardo Projektraum in Berlin-Friedrichshain. Making Places Inbetween is an exhibition-as-book in which chapters are transformed into collaborative, multi-vocal artworks. Narratives of placemaking in Italy, France, and Chile unfold through the voices of communities on the move, resisting and inhabiting border regimes.
Inspired by the oceans that connect these places, the exhibition-as-book draws on the idea of archipelagic encounters—inviting visitors to navigate a constellation of stories, fragments, and moments that flow across borders. Rather than presenting isolated sites, Making Places Inbetween foregrounds the interwoven experiences, solidarities, and creative acts of migration, tracing the invisible threads that link the communities of the Dzjangal, Tiburtina, and Los Arenales. In this archipelagic perspective that informs both the book and the exhibition, migration is viewed as interconnected crossings shaped by water, memory, and movement.
Alongside these narratives, the exhibition also addresses the challenges of researching migration flows and the complexities of representation at the intersection of art and anthropology, theory and practice. By transforming book chapters into sensory encounters, Making Places Inbetween turns Bardo Projektraum into a space for migratory reflection, collaboration, and creative exchange across disciplines and backgrounds. This project opens up alternative ways to think about migration, solidarity, and urban life—inviting audiences to engage with the resistances and aspirations found in places inbetween.
Featuring conversations with Elizabeth Andrade, Adolfo Estalella, Davide Franceschini, Inti Gallardo, Melanie Garland, hn. lyonga, Carla J. Maier, Cristian Ochoa, Kathy O'Hare and Myriam Perrot.
Making Places Inbetween is a PhD book project by Melanie Garland. The exhibition is curated by Alejandra Atalah with spatial design collaboration from Francisco Mondaca Molina and documentation by Pablo Hassmann. Presented at Bardo Projektraum, a project by Karne Kunst gUG, under the artistic direction of Marcela Villanueva. Making Places Inbetween is supported by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Transcript Verlag. Bardo Projektraum is supported by the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt des Landes Berlin.
Workshops/Activations
September 19th, 15:00–17:30 – Multimodal Workshop
This collaborative workshop is for those working at the intersections of art and anthropology, aesthetics and ethics, and theory and practice. It is open to anyone interested in using multimodal, multisensory methods and/or artistic practices—whether you are engaged in, or planning to start, a Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD, or postdoctoral project, or are already working with these approaches in a non-academic context.
It also welcomes those with practical backgrounds who wish to explore theoretical approaches but find academic theory challenging. Artists, students, and researchers in art, anthropology, European ethnology, sociology, design, architecture, theater, and filmmaking are especially encouraged to apply.
Participants are asked to bring a project they are working on. Each will have 5 minutes to present their project, focusing on methodologies. We will then hold an open discussion to provide feedback, share relevant literature, and reflect together on the possibilities and challenges of conducting transdisciplinary and collaborative projects from decolonial, postcolonial, and feminist ethical perspectives.
Spots are limited. To register, please send a short email introducing your project and your interest in the workshop to m@melaniegarland.com by September 14th. Selection will be based on alignment with the open call and on a first-come, first-served basis.
The workshop will be held in English or Spanish, depending on the participants. It is free and collaborative, aiming to create a caring, supportive, and non-hierarchical environment for sharing. This is not a lecture, but a participatory space—moving beyond traditional academic formats.
September 20th, 14:00–18:00 – Artwork Activations
Join us for an afternoon of artwork activations, where artists and curators engage visitors through storytelling, performative guided tours, listening experiences, and informal conversations. The aim is to create a welcoming and intimate space for genuine connection between artists and visitors over a cup of tea and some cake. No registration is required, and there are no fixed time slots. Feel free to drop by at any time.
