THE WALLS
OF EUROPE
2,000 kilometres of fences. Seven countries. One Europe building itself a fortress.
El Confidencial · Fundación PorCausa · Solomon · Baynana · Outriders
FORTRESS
EUROPE
The same European Union that opened its doors during the 2015 refugee crisis is today surrounded and crisscrossed by more than 2,000 kilometres of border fences. This investigation set out to answer three questions: Who benefits? How did we get here? What comes next?
Seven field trips. Bulgaria, Greece, France, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Spain. Interviews with asylum seekers, border police officers, local residents, environmentalists, hunters, and humanitarian workers. Dozens of official documents converted into data visualisations. Published simultaneously in five languages across four editorial teams on November 29, 2023.
"ALONG WITH CLIMATE CHANGE, MIGRATION MANAGEMENT IS ONE OF THE TOP CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY."
— Jakub Górnicki · Outriders
Also reported from: Greece · Slovenia
BUILT TO
SCROLL
The online version of The Walls of Europe was designed as a scroll-driven immersive experience — country by country, wall by wall. Field photography, data visualisations, and an original audio reportage let readers move through the geography of Fortress Europe at their own pace.
SEE THE INVESTIGATION →THE FENCE
ENTERED THE ROOM
The investigation became a multi-screen installation — walls, voices, and data brought into physical space. It showed at the Outriders Klub in Warsaw, including as part of the Night of Museums programme (May 2025). It also travelled to Lviv, Ukraine, where it was presented at the X Lviv Media Forum (May 2024) — a conference held that year in a bomb shelter.
Two exhibition photos below. One video: the Lviv reel.
Lviv, Ukraine · X Lviv Media Forum · May 2024
VISIT THE
IMPRISONED
Więźniów pocieszać
In April 2024, Outriders' border reportages became the backbone of a theatre performance and outdoor parade at the 57th Kontrapunkt International Theater Festival in Szczecin, Germany-Poland border region.
Directed by Marta Gosecka and choreographer Be van Vark, Polish and German performers marched through the city carrying physical replicas of EU border walls — razor wire, concrete panels, steel posts — while a radio play constructed from Outriders field interviews played overhead. The inspiration: Caravaggio's The Seven Acts of Mercy.
The performance was part of Cross-border Cultural Encounters — 7 Acts of Mercy, an EFFR-funded project (€50,000) aimed at strengthening Polish-German community integration through art.
Performance footage · Kontrapunkt Festival · Szczecin · April 2024
THE PEOPLE
OUTRIDERS
- Jakub Górnicki
- Lola García-Ajforín
- Anna Gornicka
- Zuzanna Olejniczak
- Piotr Kliks
- Arkadiusz Sołdon
- Ivan Tvardov
El Confidencial
- Lucas Proto
- Emma Esser
- Ana Somavilla
- Marta Ley
- Laura Martín
Fundación PorCausa
- José Bautista
- Isabella Carril
Solomon
- Stavros Malichudis
- Iliana Papangeli
Baynana
- Okba Mohammad
- Mohammed Shubat
THEATRE
Marta Gosecka · Be van Vark
Published November 29, 2023 · El Confidencial · Outriders · Solomon · Baynana