Border
Gorizia – Nova Gorica
But borders, like all human limitations, invite transgression. To challenge them is that “inexplicable yet overpowering psychological need,” as Ryszard Kapuściński once described it. The question isn’t whether borders should exist. The real question is: what do borders do? Do they divide or connect? Include or exclude?
Michele Smargiassi
In search of answers, I spoke with six families living in Gorizia, Italy, and Nova Gorica, Slovenia, once Yugoslavia. The Velikonja Grbac family was one of them.
As a child, I never felt comfortable crossing the border. And then in high school, when I made friends on the other side, Gorizia became an extension of my world—or rather, the two cities became one for me. For my generation, it seemed like it couldn’t be any other way. My friends in the old Gorizia opened my eyes to the idea that we could go anywhere and that we had the right to step anywhere. I would never move away from here. I love it here. I even love living right on the border. Truly.
Orjana Velikonja Grbac
* The project was coordinated by CRAF – the Center for Research and Archiving of Photography – as part of GO! 2025, the European Capital of Culture programme.
Orjana Velikonja Grbac, Designer, landscape architect, director of the Kinoatelje Institute.
Dražen Grbac, Physical education teacher and basketball coach.
Mirta Velikonja Grbac, državna odbojkarska reprezentantka