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 focuses 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 Chilean-born interdisciplinary artist and researcher based in Berlin with an interest in exploring the relations between urban spaces, postmigration, and cultural heritage, through site-specific, object/sound instalation and public and collaborative intervention. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Visual Art from the University of Chile and a Master's in Restoration & Conservation of Cultural Heritage, alongside specialized training as a museum collection manager from the Institute Palazzo Spinelli in Italy. I recently completed my PhD at Humboldt University of Berlin in the Institute of European Ethnology, working under the guidance of cultural anthropologist Prof. Dr. Regina Römhild and curator-art theorist Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Ndikung. My doctoral research, titled "Somewhere Inbetween: From So-Called Non-Places Towards Social Places," focused on self-built settlements with migration background that have resisted border regimes, transforming abandoned urban spaces into vibrant places and neighborhoods through alternative placemaking. Methodologically, I explored the intersection of art and anthropology, emphasizing artistic practice as multimodal ethnography, exploring the multisensory and affective nature to develop critical and political engagement methods in migratory settings.
I am the co-founder of NomadicArt, an art plataform 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, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, France, Bulgaria, the USA, China, Bolivia, Chile, and Turkey, a.o. I have received several EU, German and Chilean artistic and academic research fundings. My 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, et al. And also my works are part of Luciano Benetton collection Imago Mundi Italy, Lite-Haus Gallery , Amo Living Archive Berlin and private collections.
I am the co-founder of NomadicArt, an art plataform 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, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, France, Bulgaria, the USA, China, Bolivia, Chile, and Turkey, a.o. I have received several EU, German and Chilean artistic and academic research fundings. My 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, et al. And also my works are part of Luciano Benetton collection Imago Mundi Italy, Lite-Haus Gallery , Amo Living Archive Berlin and private collections.
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︎ CV Pdf
Affiliations & Research Memberships:
- 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