AMY GELERA & DOMINIK FLEISCHMANN
Amy Gelera (she/they) is a visual communication designer originally from Guatemala, based in Helsinki. They are currently a member of the decolonizing collective S.U.R. Their independent practice revolves around social dialogues concerning discrimination and decolonization–protest, irony, and humour are key elements of their critical approach.
Dominik Fleischmann (he/him) is a visual artist who grew up in a small village in Germany and studied photography in Berlin. He is now based in Helsinki after living in different animal sanctuaries across the globe while searching for happy endings on this journey of suffering in the relationship of humans and nature. His photography projects led him to several visits to Central America - travels that made him question the representative qualities of photography and his own role in the portraits of countries seen through a western lens. Dominik’s work deals with ethics, justice and empathy through photographs that combine a documentary approach with a lyrical narrative.
@dqmi
http://www.mysilentkingdom.com
@spicycarrot
https://amygelera.com
ARTWORKS
Hegemonia Saliva
installation, photography, video2021-2023
The first edition of the exhibition and visual dialogue Hegemonia Saliva focused on the human colonization and domination of nature. This edition attempts to visualize a dialogue between modernity and coloniality. We are influenced and inspired by the discourse directly linking modernity and coloniality, developed by Latin American authors Aníbal Quijano and Walter Mignolo. Modernity and coloniality are inseparable, two sides of the same coin– similar to the dark side of the moon, coloniality is the dark side of modernity. Once again, we discuss inside the context of hegemonies between Latin America and Europe. In this context, nature acts as a key character in the dialogue as it makes modernity possible through its own domination and destruction. As Eduardo Galeano states in his work ‘Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent’, Latin America’s underdevelopment and colonial history is an essential part of the development of world capitalism.
Image Credits:
Artist’s portrait - Dominik Fleischamann
Artwork images - Dominik Fleischamann & Amy Gelera