Worlds Without End

Lieven De Boeck, Elaine Byrne, John Byrne, Tony Cokes, Chto Delat, Dor Guez, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Dragana Jurišić, Ari Marcopoulos, Raqs Media Collective, Dermot Seymour, Mark Wallinger

Hugh Lane Gallery is delighted to present the international group exhibition Worlds Without End, a rich and diverse series of visual stories centered around borders and the mindset of borderisation.

The globalised utopian vision of open borders, complicated by a populist push towards border fortification, has increased the tensions surrounding state borders. The exhibition Worlds Without End (WWE) was first conceived a year ago as a research-based collaboration between Sara Reisman, Executive and Artistic Director of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, New York and Michael Dempsey, Head of Exhibitions, Hugh Lane Gallery, who are co-curators of WWE.

WWE opens a visual dialogue on the impact of borders on individuals and communities. The 12 participating artists draw from different regional traditions and challenge our perceptions of national identities and envision utopian possibilities for understanding the place of borders, their proliferation and seeming obsolescence, in contemporary society. The exhibiting artists reveal their deep interest in current geo-political positions and social conditions with works that interrogate power structures, positions of privilege and human rights issues.  The artists’ concerns also extend to those established borders which bisect cultural communities and physical neighbourhoods, undermining the very networks that ensure human safety and sustainability.

Historically, borders have tended to be the location of international trouble spots. Recently these tensions have increased and the contrast of ideology has now been eclipsed by a virus that doesn’t respect either point of view. Politicisation of the pandemic, displacement of people, and restricted travel, along with the predicted economic recession have created further complex contradictions.

“Worlds Without End encompasses the perpetuity of time—reflecting on the rise and fall of empires in looking at how borders are erected and demolished in the rhythmic flow of human revolution.” –Barbara Dawson

WWE focuses on the growing practice of fortification and surveillance created under guise of protection and care.  We may never reach our utopian ideals of a world without borders, but we must at least highlight and stem the tides of those regimes which, under the guise of safeguarding their people, inflict misery and hardship on others, shattering the basic tenets of universal humanity.

Featuring artworks by Lieven De Boeck (Belgium); Elaine Byrne (Ireland); John Byrne (Ireland); Tony Cokes (US); Chto Delat (Russia); Dor Guez (Israel/Palestine); Lawrence Abu Hamdan (Jordan); Dragana Jurišić (Croatia); Ari Marcopoulos (Netherlands); Raqs Media Collective (India); Dermot Seymour (Ireland) and Mark Wallinger (UK), many of whom are exhibiting in Ireland for the first time, bringing together their experiences of borders from international regions.

WWE is based on the Rubin Foundation’s engagement with art and social justice in New York City and the Hugh Lane Gallery’s prominent role in Dublin’s civic and cultural life.

The exhibition opens in the Hugh Lane Gallery, Parnell Square, Dublin on 1 October 2020 and will run until 31 January 2021. Please visit our website for public health guidance and access to the gallery.

Admission Free. All Welcome.

*Even registration

Exhibition Guide and Catalogue available online

For further information please contact:
jessica.hayden [​at​] dubincity.ie T (01) 222 5571
victoria.evans [​at​] dublincity.ie T (01) 222 5563