Wxtch Craft lecture recording: melanie bonajo

Pre(watch) material:

Have a look at the material provided by our guest speaker in preparation for their lecture:
https://www.youtube.com/user/blackeskimo100

Wxtch Craft lecture by melanie bonajo
'Skinship-A touch based place for kinship-'

Bio - melanie bonajo
Through their films, performances, music and installations, they study subjects related to how technological advances and commodity-based pleasures increase feelings of alienation, removing a sense of belonging in an individual. Captivated by concepts of the divine, Bonajo explores the spiritual emptiness of her generation, the erosion of intimacy, examines peoples’ shifting relationship with nature and tries to understand existential questions by reflecting on our domestic situation, ideas around classification, concepts of home, non-humans, technology, gender and attitudes towards value. Their movies often depict communities who pioneer and struggle in the shadows of the law.

Their work has been exhibited and performed in international art institutions including De Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam; Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw; The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; The Moscow Biennale; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul and PPOW Gallery, New York. Mel's films have screened at festivals including International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Berlinale and the online platform Vdrome.

Bonajo is the initiator of the Genital International collective, a member of the band Z▲Z▲Z◎Z◎ and initiated The Skinship-A touch based place for kinship- in Berlin. They also work as a somatic sex coach and educator and workshop facilitator serving the queer community. Melanie will represent The Netherlands at the 59th Venice Biennale, 2022. They will be working with a curatorial team consisting of Maaike Gouwenberg, Geir Haraldseth and Soraya Pol. The work will be presented at the Chiesetta della Misericordia in the Cannaregio neighbourhood in Venice.