Grenzkickerl - Futbal na hraniciach
2007, Site-specific intervention, Viertelfestival; temporary football pitch on the national border,
Borderstation Berg/Petržalka (Austria - Slovakia)
Documentation on DVD
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The motivation for this project was to realise a transnational intervention between Austria and Slovakia, East and West. During the cold war barbed wire, land mines and heavy-armed border guards were dividing this two neighbouring countries. Trespassing the border was absolutely impossible. Since its opening in 1989 it was more and more possible to cross the border and in 2004 Slovakia beacame a member of the European Union. In May 2007, half a year before Slovakia joined the Schengen Area, the project "Grenzkickerl - Futbal na hraniciach" was taking place direct in this border area. Therefore a football pitch was installed right on the border between Austria and Slovakia. Various artists and curators from both countries were invited to join a biliteral, cross-border football game. It was a social happening between two neighgours and an experiment to raise public awareness that borders are vanishing.
Participating artists / football players: Peter Szalay, Katarína Gatialová, Peter Ondrušek, Stano Masár, Roman Bicek, Andrea Kalinova, Lydia Pribisova, Miro Čatloš, Alexander Felch, Anna Witt, Christoph Schwarz, Jürgen Rendl, Christoph Höschele, Kai Kaspar and others