Closet Demonstrations

Dendrocoelum lacteum (Planaria) by Marina Leo Shamov

The video installation “Dendrocoelum lacteum (Planaria)” is a five-step tutorial about establishing connections with Planaria and accessing the bodily knowledge of asexual reproduction.
Reproduction of Dendrocoelum lacteum (thereafter Dl) occurred asexually from somatic cells. There are several types of asexual reproduction; Dl is characterized by strobilation, which means that new Dl individuals accumulate through rearrangement of the body of the parent individual. The strobilation theory describes how the metameric bodies of animals historically arose through the division of the body of an individual into similar segments. Dl retains pluripotency, which can be translated as “the possibility of development according to different scenarios”.

Dl becomes the starting point for the formation of one more metaphor for q***r identity. Decaying body-sets grow into adulthood, making changes in their mental structures. Bodies are neuroplastic and fall into evolutionary memory and species kinship. The body-sets genes contain knowledge about non-human beings and prehistoric ancestors, as well as those images that we usually consider having never existed outside the human imagination.

The video installation “Dendrocoelum lacteum (Planaria)” invites the audience to follow the tutor's instructions and practise becoming a Dl through body, voice, and imagination practices.

The project description is available in Bashkir, Tatar and English in the exhibition catalogue, pages 43-44.

Photos by Cansu Tandoğan

Trumu Fe**sh - The Shrine by Amaqhawekazi Emafini Malamlela.

Which supernatural or higher being may Transgender and Non-binary people venerate when God's pronouns are His/him? What is the purpose of the body when engaging in forms of spirituality? Trumu Fe**sh – The Shrine is a multidisciplinary artwork building a world of faithfulness. The artwork’s centre is the sacredness of rituals by Transgender people and unearthing the veneration of a Transgender deity. The shrine is an intimate experience with the priestess before the encounter with the deity. Your patience is the key to this journey. Do not give up. We will see you on the other side.

The project description is available in Fante, IsiXhosa and English in the exhibition catalogue, pages 27-28.

Photos by Cansu Tandoğan.