Marina Caneve / exhibition opening
Marina Caneve / On the Ground among the Animals
EKO 9 Collateral Environment
UGM Kabinet, Strossmayerjeva ulica 6, Maribor
opening: Friday, 26 April 2024, 19:00
curator: Daniele De Luigi (FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive)
We invite you to the opening of the exhibition On the Ground among the Animals by Italian artist Marina Caneve, which will take place on Friday 26 April at the UGM Kabinet. The exhibition is part of the Collateral Environment of Triennial of the Art and Environment EKO 9, which will take place in the old sanatorium at Tyrševa ulica 19 between 17 May and 28 July 2024.
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.
