Lund and Irbid: routes of bordering

by Gunnar Sandin and Marwa Al Khalidi

In 2020 we performed a dialogic event, labelled Lund Irbid Parallel Walk, connecting two geopolitical regions and cities: Lund in Sweden and Irbid in Jordan. The dialogue was publicly staged in cooperation with AURA gallery in Lund, as a synchronized walking and talking act, where each of us invited one walking companion, and an audience on a digital platform. Recognizing that the two cities on the one hand represent a division between a global North and South, the act also pointed out local complexities of bordering processes, reflecting the two cities’ respective history, especially as regards zones of conflict and forced migration.

In a follow-up text in Field: a free journal of architecture, we pointed out areas in the two cities, extending the routes of the walking act, showing urban principles of integration, including differences as regards the architectural culture of housing for newcomers.   

(Al Khalidi & Sandin, 2023, Bordering Principles and Integration in Urban Context)

The work exhibited here at the Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art, 2024, is the third part of this joint project, with the title: Lund and Irbid: routes of bordering. It consists of a pairing of photos from each city that reflect modern histories of bordering.

Gunnar Sandin is an Artist and Professor in Applied Aesthetics at the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, LTH-Lund University.

Marwa Al Khalidi is an Architect and Lecturer in Architecture and Planning at University of Kent, Canterbury.