Frontière - Journal d'exposition

The journal accompanying the Frontière exhibition presented at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie from April 14, 2026, to January 2, 2028.

Designed as a keepsake, this journal, illustrated with numerous maps and photographs, deconstructs the idea of "frontier" to better understand this concept as it applies across the world, juxtaposing very different situations from one continent to another. The publication revisits the art of cartography, the political power it holds, and presents ten examples of frontiers with a focus on the human and ethnological dimension that crossing them entails, often involving risks and dangers.

Five frontiers are addressed with a field-based approach: Mexico-United States; Colombia-Venezuela; Georgia-Russia; Cameroon-Central African Republic; and the two Koreas. Other borders, shifting or imperceptible, are also explored: maritime limits, cyberspace, and even the sand wall separating Niger from Algeria. Finally, some cases reveal administrative or temporal situations bordering on the absurd, such as the Diomede Islands.

By drawing on these crossings, the journal helps readers grasp the stakes of our societies, the functioning and complexity of the world.

Four scientists contribute to the journal: Philippe Rekacewicz, geographer and cartographer; Anne-Laure Amilhat-Szary, professor of geography and specialist in frontiers; Fernando Garlin Politis, anthropologist of migrations and borders; and Valérie Gelézeau, geographer specializing in Korea.

The Exhibition

From April 14, 2026, to January 2, 2028, the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie is presenting Frontière, a new exhibition aimed at helping visitors understand today's world through the concept of the frontier and its impact on our societies. Relying on real situations and geographical curiosities, the exhibition offers a fresh look at cartography. It provides a snapshot of the world by presenting geographers' field studies.

Throughout the visit, Frontière invites visitors to challenge preconceived notions on a subject that is more relevant than ever.

Check out an excerpt from the journal: https://www.calameo.com/read/00677881964b34e7c5855