I am sending you here the text entitled Borderline Syndrome - Energies
of Defence. It was written by the curators of Manifesta 3 as the inital
statement for the process of developing Manifesta 3 as a process of
dialogue and discussion. In this statement, the curators tried to
formulate some of the issues they find urgent and decisive for European
art, but also culture in general, economy, society etc. It is also an
invitation to everyone interested (artists, curators, critics, but also
people interested in architecture, film, theatre, music, philosophy,
social sciences, natural sciences, politics, etc.) to respond to it in
any way (texts, proposal, picture etc.) A selection of these responses
will be published in a book which will be a part of the Manifesta 3
project.

We are inviting you to send us your comments and ideas on this
statements and the issues it addresses. Also, we are asking to help us
forward this texts to all the people you think might be interested in
it.

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BORDERLINE SYNDROME
Energies of Defence

Do you suffer from a borderline syndrome?
Where do Y O U draw the line?

Art, science, technology, culture: in all of these territories there is
an increasing demand for openness. Traffic between them is intense. At
the same time, borders remain necessary to keep a grip, to define
identity, to deepen understanding. If there is a tendency to level
culture horizontally, to explore the surface, there is an equal and
opposing tendency to protect the 'vertical', to ground it in a specific
value.

A parallel to the geopolitical situation in Europe might be drawn. In a
world where globalisation and regionalisation go hand in hand, where the
universality of capital is contradicted by the emergence of national,
ethnic, provincial and other exclusionary values, of course it is not
just culture that deals with the ambiguities of territory. It is a
political issue, a social one. It is the character of global culture at
large. Protection from political, economic and cultural homogenisation
seems to be a fundamental concern of our time.

Manifesta 3 will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is a place on the
border of Fortress Europe. It is 'former Eastern Europe', it aims to be
Western. It is close to ethnic turmoil, yet refined in its
cosmopolitanism. It is off the centre, it is the centre - depending on
where one stands.

Manifesta 3 should explore the paradoxes of borderlining and strategies
of protection. It positions itself at the crossing point of art and
society in a challenging place. An art exhibition in this context, under
these conditions, is not another show to be visited. It is also a
trajectory of thought, speech and action. Not simply a place to be, but
a process to engage with.

Manifesta 3 invites Y O U to rethink your field of activities and its
cultural effect. Before the exhibition takes place in the summer of the
year 2000, a process will be set in motion which allows for dialogue
about the value and meaning of 'protection'. Francesco Bonami, Ole
Bouman, M