My research interests lie in postmigration and postcolonial studies, critical-feminist geography, and decolonial practices through artistic-ethnographic methods. I am particularly drawn to the intersection of art and anthropology, engaging with object-based installations, sound art, and performative and curatorial processes rooted in feminist ethics of care. My artistic-anthropological and curatorial approaches focus on collaborative and transacademic exhibitions and public interventions, exploring how multisensory and collaborative practices can move beyond the violence inherent in traditional ethnographic display methods. Recently, I have also become interested in multispecies studies, examining the sonic dimensions of oceans and seas through the lens of archipelagic thinking, postcolonial oceans and seascape epistemology.
I am a scholar, researcher, and artist based in Berlin, interested in the relations between urban and water spaces, postmigration, and cultural heritage. My work unfolds through site-specific, object and sound installations, archival practices, and public or collaborative interventions.
I hold a PhD in Philosophy from the Institute of European Ethnology at Humboldt University of Berlin, where I was supervised by cultural anthropologist Prof. Dr. Regina Römhild and curator-theorist Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Ndikung. I also hold a Master’s degree in Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, specialized training in museum collection management from the Institute Palazzo Spinelli in Italy, and a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Art from the University of Chile.
My doctoral project, Somewhere Inbetween: From So-Called Non-Places Towards Social Places, examined self-built settlements shaped by migration that resist border regimes, transforming abandoned urban areas into vibrant neighborhoods through alternative forms of placemaking. Methodologically, I explored the intersection of art and anthropology, approaching artistic practice as a form of multimodal ethnography — one that engages the sensory and affective dimensions of experience to develop critical and political modes of engagement in migratory contexts.
I am the co-founder of NomadicArt, an art platform that explores themes of migration, neighborhood, and community storytelling, and co-curator and founder of NomadicRadio, a platform for sound and radio exchanges centered on urbanism, migration, and sonority as decolonial practices. I am also a member of the Amo Collective, a neighborhood initiative and event space based at Humboldt University’s Institute for European Ethnology in Berlin. Through this collective, I am involved in the campaign to rename Berlin-Mitte’s M* Strasse and envision a space for collective memory, fostering dialogue around colonial history and the possibilities of convivial futures.
My work has been exhibited internationally in countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, France, the USA, China, Bolivia, and Turkey, among others. Additionally, I have curated collaborative exhibitions and cultural events between Germany and Chile, and have received several EU, German, and Chilean research funding. My artistic participations include the Kaunas Biennial 2021, Ojo Andino exhibition in Fondazione Cini in the context of Biennale di Venezia 2015, Berlin Refugee Memorial, ASI Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin 2015. And also my works are part of Luciano Benetton collection Imago Mundi Italy, Lite-Haus Gallery, Amo Living Archive Berlin, and private collections.
I hold a PhD in Philosophy from the Institute of European Ethnology at Humboldt University of Berlin, where I was supervised by cultural anthropologist Prof. Dr. Regina Römhild and curator-theorist Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Ndikung. I also hold a Master’s degree in Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, specialized training in museum collection management from the Institute Palazzo Spinelli in Italy, and a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Art from the University of Chile.
My doctoral project, Somewhere Inbetween: From So-Called Non-Places Towards Social Places, examined self-built settlements shaped by migration that resist border regimes, transforming abandoned urban areas into vibrant neighborhoods through alternative forms of placemaking. Methodologically, I explored the intersection of art and anthropology, approaching artistic practice as a form of multimodal ethnography — one that engages the sensory and affective dimensions of experience to develop critical and political modes of engagement in migratory contexts.
I am the co-founder of NomadicArt, an art platform that explores themes of migration, neighborhood, and community storytelling, and co-curator and founder of NomadicRadio, a platform for sound and radio exchanges centered on urbanism, migration, and sonority as decolonial practices. I am also a member of the Amo Collective, a neighborhood initiative and event space based at Humboldt University’s Institute for European Ethnology in Berlin. Through this collective, I am involved in the campaign to rename Berlin-Mitte’s M* Strasse and envision a space for collective memory, fostering dialogue around colonial history and the possibilities of convivial futures.
My work has been exhibited internationally in countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, France, the USA, China, Bolivia, and Turkey, among others. Additionally, I have curated collaborative exhibitions and cultural events between Germany and Chile, and have received several EU, German, and Chilean research funding. My artistic participations include the Kaunas Biennial 2021, Ojo Andino exhibition in Fondazione Cini in the context of Biennale di Venezia 2015, Berlin Refugee Memorial, ASI Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin 2015. And also my works are part of Luciano Benetton collection Imago Mundi Italy, Lite-Haus Gallery, Amo Living Archive Berlin, and private collections.
© L'Aquila Reale
Current academic collaborations:
Affiliations & Memberships:
- Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum, Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte, Bremerhafen
- Ocean comm/uni/ty TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
- BBK Berlin berufsverband bildender künstler*innen Berlin
- Laboratory Critical Europeanization and Migration Studies | IfEE | University Humboldt Berlín
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Laboratory Amo-Salon/Amo collective Berlin: antiracist and decolonial studies | IfEE | University Humboldt Berlín
- Centro Studi Postcoloniali e di Genere | L'Orientale | Università degli studi di Napoli
- Georg Simmel Center for Urban Studies | University Humboldt Berlín
© Melanie Garland 2025. All rights reserved