Video Room: Emilija Škarnulytė Emilija Škarnulytė

The exhibition features Æqualia (2023), a video installation commissioned by the 14th Gwangju Biennale and Canal Projects (New York). In this work, Emilija Škarnulytė (Vilnius, Lithuania, 1987) swims in the Meeting of Waters in Manaus, using her own body as a reference point to highlight the immensity of the location and address the relationship between nature and humans.

Emilija Škarnulytė’s work tells stories about how humans adapt to socio-environmental crises. Her art highlights landscapes that are not immediately visible. In Æqualia, the artist embodies a mermaid who swims at the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Amazon River. Pink dolphins approach and accompany her during the journey, alluding to mythological elements associated with mermaids and dolphins. These creatures are central to Amazonian cosmologies and are now threatened with extinction.