Page - 169 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Janine Schemmer | Grenzraum in Bewegung 169 focus of the action. With reference to urban locations and institutions, they transfer these to the countryside. However, city and country are not thought of as opposites. On the contrary, the Stazione overcomes these opposites and thus creates continuity and relation between these spaces. Right from the start, the festival‘s programme was strongly oriented towards the appro- priation of the landscape. The starting point for the festival was a reference to the village, its history and its eventful past. Donatella Rutar, one of the curators, says it is the perspective that is important in these discussions, with which one looks at the spaces and the stories inscribed in them: the focus is not on the border, which was once heavily armed and impenetrable, but on the idea of being in a centre in which new perspectives for the future (on site) are developed. The Stazione Topolò should not merely be understood as an exhibition venue, but rather as a process that picks up on material traces (for example through the extension and conversion of former residential and business premises), as well as on traces of an ideal, cultural and relational nature. These are being regrouped, reformed and newly articulated (see Braun 2006, 24). Thus, established narratives can be broken up and filled with new content. One can observe that in this case, art is not exclusively seen or implemented as the engine for renewing the rural image or the infrastructure. It is not just about upgrading the area and attracting visitors. The organisers are concerned about a content-related and artistic confron- tation with and exploration of past and present living environments and everyday lives in peri- pheral zones, and take a close look at landscapes that can be described as forgotten from various perspectives. Through the relational practices of appropriation and use of space presented in the article, such projects can contribute to highlighting complex dynamics and continuities of conflicts by building on old debates and addressing new challenges and opportunities for nego- tiations that our contemporary society should face. References Braun, Karl. 2006. ‘Grenzziehungen im Imaginären – Konstitution von Kultur’, in Grenzen & Differenzen. Zur Macht sozialer und kultureller Grenzziehungen, herausgegeben von Thomas Hengartner und Johannes Moser (Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag), 19-40. Ingold, Tim. 1993. ‘The temporality of the landscape’, World Archaeology. Conceptions of Time and Ancient Society 25(2), 152-174. Ingold, Tim. 2004. ‘Culture On The Ground. The World Perceived Through the Feet’, Jour- nal of Material Culture, 9(3), 315-340. Scholz-Irrlitz, Leonore. 2008. ‘Perspektive ländlicher Raum‘, in Perspektive ländlicher Raum. Leben in Wallmow / Uckermark, herausgegeben von Leonore Scholz-Irrlitz (Münster: LIT), 7-13.