Hegemonia Saliva - A Visual Dialogue
Amy Gelera & Dominik Fleischmann
Hegemonia Saliva (Nuoret 2023)
Spatial Multi-Media Installation (photography, video, mixed materials)
The installation features protest footage of the streets of Guatemala from 14.03.2023 Festivales Solidarios (@festivalesgt on instagram). The Pacific coastal marine communities in Guatemala are demanding the release of the water sources and their imprisoned and criminalized colleagues. Translation: “It is not correct that transnational companies… it is not correct that these mindless people are appropriating the rivers. In an organized manner we have decided to make this demonstration.”
Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland 2023. Installation View.
Artificial grass, gravel, plastic cloth, handmade zines, paint, Framed archival print 62x42cm, asphalt, glue, projection.
In the Nuoret 2023 (Young Artists) exhibition, artists Amy Gelera and Dominik Fleischmann continue their visual dialogue Hegemonia Saliva, where they critically engage with topics around human colonisation and the domination of nature.
The artist duo is 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 being the dark side of modernity.
At Hippolyte Gallery, the two artists discuss the relationship of hegemonies between Latin America and Europe in their personal visual language. The work clashes mediums and materials, perceptions and values. A flashy projection bouncing between emoji hearts and protest footage of the streets of Guatemala, meet two framed artworks that speak of violence and separations in the name of conservation. The media installation is opposed by a calm reading nook presenting two handmade zines and Amy Gelera’s academic research on the colonisation of visual culture and the oppressive influence of stock photography.
The work on Hegemonia Saliva by Amy Gelera and Dominik Fleischmann is supported by the Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation and Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) and UrbanApa Miniresidency.
Hegemonia Saliva, hand-crafted artist zine. 2023.
Handmade banana paper, office paper, stapled zine, 14x20cm, edition of 20pcs.
Amy Gelera and Dominik Fleischmann met in Finland during their studies at Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Hegemonia Saliva (Nuoret2023) at Hippolyte is the second collaboration of the two artists. Their first visual dialogue presentation premiered at Galleria Uusi Kipinä in Lahti (Finland) in 2021.
Paraíso Terrenal
Finland 2021
Risograph Zine, 12 x 19 cm
Edition of 22