Stephanie Comilang,
Diaspora Ad Astra

Ocean-Archive.org

Commissions

TBA21–Academy

Stephanie Comilang

HD VIDEO, COLOR, SOUND, 5:25 MIN
Commissioned by TBA21–Academy with the support of Institut Kunst HGK FHNW in Basel.

As part of the third and final voyage of TBA21–Academy’s ‘The Current II’ fellowship cycle ‘Spheric Ocean: Life For Beginners’ led by Chus Martínez, the Ocean Archive debuts the film ‘Diaspora Ad Astra’ (2020) by Stephanie Comilang.

Diaspora Ad Astra is a fictional, short video told from the perspective of a Filipino seafarer. There are 400,000 seamen from the Philippines, working in a profession that helps move 90 percent of global trade. Under brutal conditions, these men can make ten times more than they earn at home. They sign contracts for seven to ten months, leaving behind their families, with whom these migrant laborers struggle to maintain a connection due to the scarcity and unreliability of internet connectivity onboard. While making this video, stories of ships not allowed to dock in their home ports due to fears of the spread of coronavirus proliferated in the news. What is it like to see your home in front of you but be unable to return to it?

Stephanie Comilang is an artist living and working between Toronto and Berlin. Her documentary based works create narratives that look at how our understandings of mobility, capital and labour on a global scale are shaped through various cultural and social factors.

OCEAN-ARCHIVE.ORG

Watch the full video here

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Artists

Stephanie Comilang