Chiharu Shiota – Keys in Venice and New York

March 5, 2016 by Mariamma Kambon

Encountering Chiharu Shiota’s work at the Venice Biennale 2015 was indeed like stumbling upon a familiar tongue in a foreign land. Yet the lingua had been extrapolated into such sublime poetry that it was rendered almost completely new to me. In late 2013 I became aware of mass incarceration, a system of control and suppression unique to the United States, not only in its stupendous volume but in its targeting of the historically disenfranchised and underprivileged segments of the society. […]

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Moors on Doors: The Minute Sculpted Heads of the Moors of Venice

July 4, 2015 by Mariamma Kambon

“Alas, Falada, hanging there!” Then the head answered,  “Alas, young queen, how ill you fare!
 If this your tender mother knew,
 Her heart would surely break in two.” – excerpt from The Goose Girl, The Brothers Grimm Fumbling my way through the streets of Venice in the first few hours after my arrival, I slung my camera around to capture whatever caught my eye – easily everything, as the novelty of the entirely old city transformed it into a visual […]

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