Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.
Manifesta 13 Marseille was one of the only international biennials to take place during the global pandemic COVID-19, the biennial ended earlier than planned due to the second national lockdown
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Fanja Bouts, NL
A Largely Distorted yet Surprisingly Ordered Map of Regular Irregularities : A Dense Description of The Present Day History of The Future, 2023 © Fanja Bouts. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Cecília Coca.
Fanja Bouts is a visual artist who unravels the entangled structures within our shared existence. Through illustrated webs of life, she critically assesses the challenges that we face and pairs these with the absurd realities of everyday mundanity.
The artist’s driving force is the reimagination of the world in a more-than-human ecological framework. Political ecology, philosophy and natural sciences are brought together to form a broad foundation examining a move towards a just and equal planet for all its inhabitants – human or non-human, organic or inorganic. Through the eye of deep ecology as a philosophy, recurring themes include capitalism and its ecologically destructive dynamics as well as critical animal studies and deep-rooted inequalities within contemporary world systems.
By contrasting urgent topics with humorous playful characters in satirical scenes, Bouts creates an opportunity for shared reflection while simultaneously calling out for the immediate realisation that systemic change must happen now.