Marina Caneve / On the Ground among the Animals
Marina Caneve / On the Ground among the Animals
EKO 9 Collateral Environment
UGM Kabinet, Strossmayerjeva ulica 6, Maribor
26 April – 26 May 2024
opening: Friday, 26 April 2024, 19:00
curator: Daniele De Luigi (FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive)
On the Ground among the Animals is a project in which Italian artist Marina Caneve explores the ambiguities inherent in the dominating role played by human beings over nature and the tensions that emerge from the human relationship with other animals. The project takes its cue from an analytical study of the network of ecological corridors promoted by the European Union, as part of the Natura 2000 project to preserve fauna, flora and biodiversity.
The Natura 2000 network covers Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats and extends across all EU Member States. It is a transnational communication system that goes beyond the border policies of each state and puts the ecological logic first.
Bridges are some of the most important infrastructures in the network, since they make it easier for animals to overcome architectural barriers such as motorways and roads. At the same time, multiple fences and security cameras monitor and follow their movements, casting doubt on their apparent freedom of movement.
Through photography, video installations and interdisciplinary research, the artist implements a complex visual connection between infrastructures for wildlife, the landscape of nature reserves, videos generated by surveillance systems and references to western cultural paradigms about the role occupied by humans in nature. From an approach of visual eco-criticism, Marina Caneve touches on key issues such as borders, migration and freedom of movement, non-human animal rights, ecosystem conservation and, ultimately, the possibility of rethinking our anthropocentrism.
The exhibition On the Ground among the Animals at UGM Kabinet is a collateral environment of the EKO 9 – Triennial of Art and Environment, taking place at the Old sanatorium (Tyrševa ulica 19) between 17 May and 28 July 2024.
Marina Caneve (1988) is a photographer exploring major environmental, social and cultural changes through a research-based and multidisciplinary approach combining several perspectives, from vernacular-naïve to technological-scientific. Caneve’s work can be found in the collections of institutions such as MAXXI, MUFOCO, ICCD, National Mountain Museum and Collezione Farnesina as well as private collections. Her work has been shown at MAXXI (Rome), La Triennale (Milan), FOTOHOF (Salzburg), Palazzo Reale (Milan) and Institut Néerlandais (Paris), among others. In recent years, she has been commissioned in artistic research, including Atlante Sapienza 22 – MAXXI (2022); Parco Nazionale delle Incisione Rupestri – Direzione Musei Lombardia (2022); Ankara: Italian Gazes on the Capital – Bilkent University and Italian Embassy in Ankara (2022); Italia Inclusiva – MAECI (2022); UNESCO – ICCD (2020); Atlante Architettura Contemporanea – MUFOCO and MiC (2019–20); IAlp – National Mountain Museum (2019–20) and Marghera on Stage – Pad. Venezia, La Biennale di Venezia (2016). She has received numerous awards including the GFI – Giovane Fotografia Italiana award (currently Premio Luigi Ghirri) at Fotografia Europea Reggio Emilia, the Dummy Award at Cortona On The Move and the Premio Marco Bastianelli for the best Italian photobook. She was also nominated for the Prix du livre des Rencontres d’Arles. With her ongoing research on freedom and movement in Europe – for animals – she was finalist of the C/O Berlin Talent Award (2021) and the Premio Gabriele Basilico (2020). She has been invited to take part in artist residencies at the Osservatorio OMNE (2021), Docking Station (2018) and Fondazione Francesco Fabbri (2013). Her major publications include Are They Rocks or Clouds? (Fw:Books), Di roccia, fuochi e avventure sotterranee (Quodlibet/Ghella), The Valley Between Peaks and Stars (Quodlibet) and The Shape of Water Vanishes in Water (A&Medizioni Bookstore). She is the co-founder of CALAMITA/À (2013-ongoing), an interdisciplinary platform with a focus on catastrophes, in particular the Vajont dam tragedy. She combines her practice with teaching on the IUAV masters in Photography course, at Spazio Labo’, and giving workshops.
The project is supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council programme (12th edition, 2023), which aims to promote Italian contemporary art worldwide. The project is also supported by FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive with UGM | Maribor Art Gallery and a series of project partners including FRB – Foundation for Biodiversity Research, Paris (France); CAP – Centre d’art de Saint-Fons (France); FOTODOK, Utrecht (The Netherlands); FOMU – Fotomuseum Antwerpen (Belgium); La Triennale, Milan, and technical sponsors Fw:Books, Amsterdam and Ghella.
