We have been commissioned by the University of Kent to create a new piece for World Fest. This four-day festival aims to celebrate the university’s international community and ethos. To mark this occasion we are currently creating an interactive experience titled Schengen Smile. This new work develops our interest in topical issues which border on the socio-political, and is in line with past projects such as The Watching Game (2007), Our Daily Bread (2008) and BIKINI State (2008). As these works did previously, Schengen Smile does not carry an overt message; we are not looking to make grand pronouncements. Rather this new piece is designed as a trigger, a provocation, which might lead participants to reflect upon a specific theme.
Now a little something to contextualise: The title refers to two international treaties signed by countries across the European Union in 1986 and 1990. They dealt with cross-border legal arrangements and the abolition of systematic border controls among the participating countries. The main purpose of the establishment of the Schengen agreements was the abolition of physical borders among European countries. Therefore a common Schengen Visa allows travel for tourism, business visits or temporary transit for employment purposes to non-EU citizens for a period of up to 90 days. Nevertheless, Ireland and the United Kingdom were the only EU members that did not sign up to the original Schengen Convention of 1990, and retained a right to opt out of the application of the rules after their conversion into European Union law. Thus, they have not ended border controls with other EU Member States, but do apply the provisions relating to police and judicial co-operation, which form part of the Schengen acquis.
Schengen Smile is a creative response to the ups and downs, swings and roundabouts of internationalism. Throughout Saturday 28th February we will occupy the upstairs rooms of the Gulbenkian Theatre Building. There we will create a surreal take on the everyday reality of international travel: waiting rooms, forms, desks, public alerts, stamps, and frozen smiles. In this context Schengen Smile will operate as a public service. Designed as a liner journey for one person at a time, Schengen Smile will allow people to adopt a new nationality, picked at random, for a period of twenty-four hours. The experience, we hope, will offer the participants an unusual mix of humour, biting critique, and visual poetry. Hoping to open up a space for reflection, Shengen Smile will play with and subvert the structures present in the beurocratic world of visa applications, passport controls, and border crossings. On a more abstract level, the piece will explore issues relating to nationality and identity.
Now a little something to contextualise: The title refers to two international treaties signed by countries across the European Union in 1986 and 1990. They dealt with cross-border legal arrangements and the abolition of systematic border controls among the participating countries. The main purpose of the establishment of the Schengen agreements was the abolition of physical borders among European countries. Therefore a common Schengen Visa allows travel for tourism, business visits or temporary transit for employment purposes to non-EU citizens for a period of up to 90 days. Nevertheless, Ireland and the United Kingdom were the only EU members that did not sign up to the original Schengen Convention of 1990, and retained a right to opt out of the application of the rules after their conversion into European Union law. Thus, they have not ended border controls with other EU Member States, but do apply the provisions relating to police and judicial co-operation, which form part of the Schengen acquis.
Schengen Smile is a creative response to the ups and downs, swings and roundabouts of internationalism. Throughout Saturday 28th February we will occupy the upstairs rooms of the Gulbenkian Theatre Building. There we will create a surreal take on the everyday reality of international travel: waiting rooms, forms, desks, public alerts, stamps, and frozen smiles. In this context Schengen Smile will operate as a public service. Designed as a liner journey for one person at a time, Schengen Smile will allow people to adopt a new nationality, picked at random, for a period of twenty-four hours. The experience, we hope, will offer the participants an unusual mix of humour, biting critique, and visual poetry. Hoping to open up a space for reflection, Shengen Smile will play with and subvert the structures present in the beurocratic world of visa applications, passport controls, and border crossings. On a more abstract level, the piece will explore issues relating to nationality and identity.
Make your way to the waiting area. Fill in the forms you will be given. Please write in capitals. Wait here to be processed. Have your documentation ready. Wait your turn behind the yellow line.
