October 29–November 20, 2020
EastEast magazine invites artists, researchers, scholars, thinkers, and writers to offer up projects and stories based around the theme of its upcoming issue, (no) borders.
A border is a real or imaginary line in space or in time that separates one object or phenomena from another. It is an invariable certainty dividing two “somethings.” Borders can be spatial, temporal, qualitative and quantitative, speculative.
The pandemic has made state borders much more tangible for everyone regardless of their status, but at the same time, it has enhanced the hierarchies that define who is allowed to cross which border. Today we see that many states are talking about full transparency and openness, but actually there is a trend towards tighter borders between countries. The world crisis reinforces both real and metaphysical, cultural and social barriers. The essence of the boundaries blurred by globalization is gaining strength again. If we look at history, all borders are constantly changing, lands are merging and getting split, gates are being set up and taken down. Borders function in a state of simultaneity; they are ghostlike, and yet more real than real.
What is the function and meaning of borders? Which borders are benign and which are malign? How can we cross real and imaginary borders? Who sets the borders? Is it possible to live in a world without borders? How can we overcome the borders of individualistic society? How do humans and nonhumans live within and without borders? EastEast is offering a platform for those willing to research these questions and experiment with the idea of (no) borders.
To participate in the open call, please send a 300-word abstract introducing your text or project to hi@easteast.world. The authors of three winning proposals will be invited to develop them into full-scale materials that will be published in EastEast in February 2021. Each finalist will receive an honorarium in the amount of 250 USD. At least five other authors will get a chance to have their materials featured in EastEast’s special sections.
The deadline for applications is November 20, 2020.
EastEast is a bilingual (English and Russian) online magazine on history and contemporary culture. It is a nomadic home, a mixed language, a constellation of trade routes that carry data, ideas, flavours, and materials for constructing the future. The project was launched in July 2020 and changes its theme on a quarterly basis. EastEast’s inaugural issue was dedicated to Home, the current one is Dream. We feature essays, critical reflections, interviews, film-screenings, texts on material culture, music, and are open to many more experiments.
EastEast is published by the Moscow-based Cultural Creative Agency. CCA brings together an intellectual approach and aesthetic vision in order to build new ways of representation for cultures, countries, and their people. Its vision is to open up a cartography of solidarity across borders. While studying the diversity of human societies in time and space, CCA links the local and the global, the material and the spiritual, and the past and the present in a search for commonalities, offering various approaches to understanding and responding to contemporary challenges.
