Exhibition On the Ground among the Animals

Published the 01/08/2024 #iene2024

On the occasion of the IENE International Conference held in Prague, the Italian Cultural Institute in Prague opens the exhibition Marina Caneve. On the Ground among the Animals, curated by Daniele De Luigi, on 10 September 2024 (until 18 October 2024). 

With On the Ground among the Animals, Marina Caneve explores the ambiguities inherent in the dominating role played by human beings over nature and the tensions that emerge from their relationship with other animals. An analytical study of the Natura 2000 project, the network of ecological corridors to preserve biodiversity promoted by the European Union, was the cue for the artist to create a visual link between the wildlife passages (structures designed to facilitate the safe movement of wildlife across transport infrastructures), the nature reserve landscapes and the videos generated by the monitoring systems. She touches on key themes such as migration and freedom of movement, non-human animal rights, ecosystem conservation and ultimately the possibility of rethinking human beings’ role in the world. 
The title of the project is taken from one of the letters written to Felice Bauer by Prague-born writer Franz Kafka, the centenary of whose death falls this year.

A large series of colour photographs focus on the landscape of the nature reserves, paying particular attention to the presence of animals, barriers and flow monitoring systems. In parallel, the artist starts from theoretical research to present a series of photographs responding to cultural, technical and social investigation into the topics of infrastructure, design, animals and their depiction, policies, freedom of movement and preservation of biodiversity. The visual research includes architecture built by the animals such as termite mounds.   

(c) Marina Caneve
(c) Marina Caneve
(c) Marina Caneve

Some of the most important infrastructures in the network are the bridges which help the animals get around architectural barriers: fencing directs the paths the animals take and monitoring cameras trace their movements, calling into question their effective freedom. The bridges were photographed by Marina Caneve on the field in several EU countries: the Netherlands, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, Greece, Spain and Italy. The black-and-white images conjure up the idea of documents or a type of architecture. 

Then, taking inspiration from the footage of “camera traps” set up by the researchers to document and monitor the animals on the bridges, Marina Caneve has created a three-channel video installation, whose animal and human presence suggests that we reflect on contemporary migration policies, surveillance and intrusive images. The videos are accompanied by an original sound track composed by Renato Rinaldi, inspired by Kafka’s short stories as “Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk”, sounds from nature, and deterrence sounds to keep animals away from danger. 

The creation of many of the images was possible thanks to the collaboration of IENE (Infrastructure & Ecology Network Europe).

The installation on display was specifically designed by Etaoin Shrdlu studio for the 16th century baroque chapel which is venue of the exhibition.  

The project was carried out thanks to project partner UGM Maribor Art Gallery, cultural partners Foundation for Biodiversity Research Paris, CAP Centre d’Art Saint-Fons, FOMU Foto Museum Antwerpen, Fotodok Utrecht, Triennale Milano, and technical sponsors Ghella and Fw:Books which published the book On the Ground among the Animals, produced in collaboration with renowned graphic designer Hans Gremmen. 

 
 

Marina Caneve’s (1988) artistic projects are a contamination of photography and research. Her practice hinges around layering disciplines and languages; her projects stem from calling into question stereotypical, face-value narratives. Her current focus is on environmental and cultural ecosystems. 

In 2023 Caneve was winner of the twelfth Italian Council programme with her project “On the Ground among the Animals”, promoted by FMAV Fondazione Modena Arti Visive in partnership with UGM – Umetnostna Galerija Maribor. With “Are they rocks or clouds?” she won numerous awards, including Giovane Fotografia Italiana (now the Luigi Ghirri Prize), the Dummy Award at Cortona On The Move and the Bastianelli Prize for the best Italian photography book, and was nominated for the Prix du livre des Rencontres d’Arles. She has also been a finalist for the C/O Berlin Talent Award (2021) and the Gabriele Basilico Prize (2020). Marina Caneve’s work has been exhibited in national and international institutions including MAXXI in Rome, Fotohof in Salzburg, Institut Néerlandais in Paris, and La Triennale in Milan, and is part of collections of institutions such as the MAXXI museum, ICCD, MUFOCO and Museo Nazionale della Montagna. She has carried out photographic campaigns including Atlante Sapienza 22, MAXXI; Italia Inclusiva, MAECI; Tredici sguardi sui Musei Lombardia, Direzione Musei Lombardia; Atlante Architettura Contemporanea, MiC and MUFOCO; UNESCO, ICCD; Marghera on stage, Padiglione Venezia, La Biennale di Venezia. Since 2013, she has been co-curator of the CALAMITA/À project, a platform for interdisciplinary inquiry that explores the theme of catastrophe, whose first case study was the Vajont dam disaster. In 2023, the project was winner of Strategia Fotografia. She is one of the artists invited by CAMERA Torino to take part in the FUTURES European project.  

Her main publications include: Are They Rocks or Clouds? (Fw:Books), Di roccia, fuochi e avventure sotterranee (Quodlibet), La valle tra le cime e le stelle (Quodlibet) and The shape of water vanishes in water(A+M). Caneve combines her artistic research with teaching; since 2019 she has been a lecturer on the IUAV master’s in photography course and at Spazio Labo’. She also holds workshops at various institutions. 

Italian Council is a programme of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Established in 2017, it has the specific task of promoting the production, knowledge and dissemination of contemporary Italian creation abroad.