AYA NIV
Illustrator and graphic designer from Tel Aviv.

Borders


This book is created by three students in their 20s, each living in or coming from a different country facing its own border issues. It represents their shared attempt at coping with adult life on this planet.

Borders come in many shapes and sizes. Some of them are clear and physical - like a fence keeping us from going onto private property or a river that we can't cross without a bridge. The most known borders are those seen as lines on the map of the world, with every country choosing for itself how it connects or disconnects with its neighbors. Every border holds a story - a story about history, people, and culture. As clear as a line can look on a drawn map, real borders are not always as precise, and their effect on civilians isn't as objective as it may seem from the outside. Each one of us carries the story of a border from our home country, and each one of us is affected differently.

Following a deeper look into the different borders and boundaries that we face in our daily lives, we have found that they are everywhere. We also stumbled upon many invisible borders found within our society, within psychology, and within ourselves, and related these to the places we were born in. Are borders supposed to protect us? Are they protecting others from us? While exploring this broad and exciting subject, we found ourselves questioning the importance of borders, why they even exist, and if they can be seen as entirely beneficial or entirely restrictive.

By Clara Nohlen, Nausicaa Napolione, and Aya Niv