Overview: Territory as a Meeting Place

Overview: Territory as a Meeting Place

The Unsettling Borders Symposium (NYC) and the preceding Beyond Borders Field Laboratory (Barcelona/Empordà) represent an ongoing inquiry into al-mawtin—an entwined understanding of home and habitat.

Originally conceived as a site-specific project in Lebanon, the project pivoted to the Mediterranean coast of Spain in response to the war and the subsequent displacement of participants. Embracing the "improvisational spirit" of the Lebanese context, the project transformed into a mobile laboratory, investigating how stories—rather than statecraft alone—can propose regenerative ways of living in the world.

The Field Laboratory: Barcelona & Empordà

In 2025, an international group of filmmakers, scholars, and activists gathered to situate their perspectives within the Mediterranean territory. The lab focused on the socio-ecological context of urban Barcelona and the rural practices of the Empordà region.

Collaborative Inquiries & Site-Based Research

The laboratory functioned as a "workshop of cohabitation," engaging with local and international partners:

• Urban Intersections: Collaborations with Lumbung Press, Alarm Phone, and the Free Music School to investigate migrant support systems and urban hospitality.

• Rural Regeneration: Residence at Mas Flaquer, a regenerative farm, to explore how farming and land-based knowledge can instigate new relations of cohabitation.

• Embodied Histories: A hike of the Lisa Fittko trail and a visit to the Walter Benjamin monument in Portbou, sensing the physical "marks" of histories of flight.

The Mediterranean Imaginary

The lab moved beyond tropes of "damage and resilience," instead examining the vulnerabilities of the climate emergency—drought, invasive species, and mass tourism—as part of the broader bordering practices of Southern Europe. By linking the histories of Lebanon and Spain, the laboratory unsettled binary myths (East-West, North-South) to center planetary and multispecies justice.

Core Methodologies