Cloak / Manto de camuflaje, 2003-6
Cloak / Manto de camuflaje, miniDV, 15 min Installation views at Fabrikken for Kunst og Design (Copenhagen, 2006) and Espace Forde (Geneva, 2003), as well as video stills (parade images shot by Donatella Bernardi) This video essay’s point of departure are letters written by my paternal grandfather, born in Lima as son of German immigrants. In his letters, my grandfather tells the story of being blacklisted in Lima during WW II. Such blacklists were compiled and enforced by the US American government, and were aimed at blocking commerce between Latin America and the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan). While the video essay examines the effect of those policies on the German community in Lima through the lens of my grandfather’s account, it also juxtaposes diverse images filmed in Peru and in Germany, while questioning notions of nationality and identity, as well as of geography and nation.
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