AKINCI is proud to present new photographic works by melanie bonajo during UNSEEN. We are excited to show works from the recent project When the body says Yes, now at the Dutch Pavilion, Venice Biennale.
Through their videos, performances, photographs, and installations, melanie bonajo (they/them/theirs) examine current conundrums of co-existence in a crippling capitalist system, and address themes of eroding intimacy and isolation in an increasingly sterile, technological world. They research how technological advances and commodity-based pleasures increase feelings of alienation, removing an individual’s sense of belonging. Their works present anti-capitalist methods to reconnect and to explore sexualities, intimacies and feelings. bonajo’s experimental documentaries often feature communities living or working on the margins of society, either through illegal means or cultural exclusion, and the paradoxes inherent to ideas of comfort with a strong sense for community, equality and body-politics. Their most recent work however is When the body says Yes (2022) which right now is the Dutch entry at the Venice Biennale and is part of the artist’s ongoing research into the current status of intimacy in our increasingly alienating, commodity-driven world. For bonajo, touch can be a powerful remedy for the modern epidemic of loneliness.
melanie bonajo worked at the Venice Biennale with a curatorial team consisting of Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg, Geir Haraldseth and Soraya Pol, and collaborated with Théo Demans for the scenography. The work is being presented at the Chiesetta della Misericordia in the Cannaregio neighbourhood in Venice.