A rich collection of short films, animation, and video works from around the world will be screened online for free at the MCAD x MovingImage: 2023 Artists’ Film International (AFI) Programme.
Established in 2008 by the Whitechapel Gallery in London, England AFI gathers the knowledge of global partners for its yearly iteration. Each art institution chooses a contemporary piece by an artist from their region to be shared amongst the network and showcased across the participating countries.
For its latest edition, it provides a platform for diverse national and social discussions under the theme of Diaspora.
It features works handpicked by the Whitechapel Gallery; Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Manila, Philippines; Project 88 in Mumbai, India; Fundacion Proa in Argentina; Belgrade Culture Centre in Belgrade, Serbia; Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, Ireland; GAMeC in Bergamo, Italy; Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland; NBK in Berlin, Germany; Tromsø Kunstforening in Tromsø, Norway; and Ballroom Marfa in Texas, USA.
Ships with goods and materials from all over the world bump the Bibby Challenge with their waves (2020) by Adnan Softić and Nina Softić explores exterritoriality, tracelessness, and the struggle of refugees to find solid ground.
My Favourite Job (2022) by Sashko Protyah captures the evacuation of people to Zaporizhzhia when Russian troops utilized weapons of mass destruction against the civilians of Mariupol, Ukraine.
Alphabet. The space between us and the unknown (2021) by Ottonella Mocellin and Nicola Pellegrini searches for an imaginary place where those who were divided by history could ideally meet.
O dust (2022 to 2023) by Jesse Chun unearths intimate poetics on language, heritage, and the intangible through decentering the Eurocentric translation and historiography of cultural inheritance.
Panangatan 11°09’53.3”N 123°42’40.5”E2019-10-24 Thu 6:42 AM PST 1.29 meters High Tide2019-10-12 Sat 10:26 AM PST 1.40 meters High Tide (2019) by Martha Atienza, on the other hand, tackles the removal of Bantayan Island’s Wilderness status, the political nature of law-making, and the value it attributes to the sustainable management of human activity.
These are scheduled for Wednesday, April 24.
Prolazi izmedju 1980-2021 (Passages between 1980-2021) (2021) by Damir Avdagić features performed testimonies by Bosnian/Norwegians, who came to Norway as child refugees in the early 90s during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
A somatic play (Aduaneras) (2019) by Liv Schulman investigates borders as metaphors of what difference does depending on a person’s place in society.
Both are slated for Thursday, April 25.
Looking for Gary (2018) by Michelle Deignan is a quest for the post-New Romantic Gary Kemp at the Essex Road in Islington, where the Spandau Ballet songwriter grew up.
House-They-Europe, three songs from the opera performance I Don’t Know That Word …Yet (2022/3) by Dejan Kaludjerović is an assemblage of insightful interview responses of children from diverse socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.
Everything’s For Sale & Everyone’s Welcome To Buy (2023) by R.I.P. Germain samples from the deep research-‘berg that sits beneath Jesus Died For Us, We Will Die For Dudus! (ICA London, 21st February-14th May 2023).
GROTESKKBASILISKK! MINERAL MIXTAPE (2022) by Mochu depicts how online subcultures, cyberpunk ruins, and imperial nostalgia fall into a prismatic history of memory errors, discognitions, and techno-utopian fantasies.
These will be on view on Friday, April 26.
The screenings are free and open to the public. It will be held online from 12 noon to 1 p.m. on the scheduled dates.
For more information, visit facebook.com/MCADManila or mcadmanila.org.ph/.