CATERINA ERICA SHANTA

Caterina Erica Shanta, born in Germany in 1986, is a visual artist and filmmaker. She graduated in Visual Arts from the Iuav University of Venice and began her career in moving images and visual arts, exploring various media outputs. Shanta often delves into images created by others, examining their connections to specific, sometimes extreme and traumatic contexts. Collaborating with diverse professionals, her works bring together materials of different natures, creating frictions that form the basis for discussions expressed through workshops, collective filmmaking, open call practices, and collections of memories and experiences focused on specific research subjects.

WORKS ON VIEW FROM 30 JANUARY TO 18 FEBRUARY, 2024 

Caterina Erica Shanta
Calante, 2022
100×70 cm, graphite on paper
Water serves as the common thread in the two pieces showcased in Salotto Longhena’s inaugural project room at Ca’ Pesaro in 2024, dedicated to the work of Caterina Erica Shanta. The first piece, Calante, a graphite-on-paper creation from 2022, displayed in the drawing hanging on the wall, the intention is to reflect the room’s light almost like an opaque mirror. This artwork delves into the phenomenon of coastal erosion, shedding light on the relentless process exacerbated by climate change and extreme weather events, which reshape the coastline’s geomorphology. Human intervention over the centuries, such as the construction of shores and harbors for safer sea access, adds another layer to this elemental process. It becomes a dynamic interplay between erosion and construction, a wandering dialogue shaping the land. In Calante, this dialogue is distilled to its essence: the water gate, the sea, and their impact on the coast.

Caterina Erica Shanta, En Ausencia

Caterina Erica Shanta
En Ausencia, 2023
26:37 min, colour, sound
The second featured work in the project room is the film En Ausencia, serving as a reflective counterpart to Calante. In this film, water takes center stage once again, highlighting its uncertain future in the face of climate change. The narratives within dream sequences, contributed by individuals participating in an open call initiated by the artist in Mexico City, reveal both captivating and alarming insights. In the context of the film’s location, Mexico City, water is frequently contaminated, turning drinking water into a privately monopolized commodity subject to market laws. This privatization is a departure from historical norms. Water becomes a tangible political discourse, particularly as its use is not guaranteed to citizens in an equitable and sustainable manner.
Professor José Antonio Lino Mina from the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, contributes a mathematical and philosophical viewpoint in the film. According to his analysis, the only viable solution involves a thorough reevaluation of Mexico City’s entire urban structure. To illustrate this, part of the footage filmed by Shanta includes shoots from the last area of Mexico City – home to 25 million inhabitants at an altitude of 2500 metres – where the offshoots of the once-great Lake Texcoco, now nearly dried up, are still visible; a stark reminder of the changes in the city’s landscape.
The film, presented here for the first time, was conceptualized and filmed during the artist’s research residency in Mexico City in June 2023. The residency took place at Lingue Sorelle, curated by Nina Fiocco for the Italian Cultural Institute in Mexico City, under the direction of Gianni Vinciguerra.