Stepping off the wooden path: A Visual Essay

Abstract

The Curonian Spit, sitting in the Baltic Sea on the western shores of Lithuania and the Kaliningrad region, is a small piece of land with rich history, culture and nature that is divided by an international border. Due to the unique multifaceted dynamics between culture and nature in this area, it has long been attracting scientists, researchers, artists, and tourists. This chapter in the form of a visual essay is a reflection on the multifarious dimensions of the border-nature nexus, originating from researcher-produced images and autoethnographic fieldwork experiences. The loosely structured narrative style integrates considerations of the cohabitation and movement of various agents at the Spit: sand dunes, vegetation, animals, and humans. This reflection is anchored to core questions of liminality among these different biodiversity realms and to borders and their role in a multiplex environment.