Leviathan: We go elsewhere

Shezad Dawood’s Leviathan film series is an episodic exploration of the current challenges we face in the intersection between climate change, migration, and mental health. The film series envisages a future eerily like our present, whose inhabitants are the survivors of a cataclysmic solar event. Each film is written from the point of view of an individual character, providing insight into their trauma and pathological traits and giving each episode its own personality, visual language and rhythm. At Void Gallery we are premiering Episode 8 of the series that elucidates the indigenous perspective on the impact of climate change and the nature of the universe according to their culture. The film looks at the interconnections between nature and the indigenous community. In ways, proposing we move from an anthropocentric view to the era of the Symbioscience, an epoch that highlights the interconnection between nature and humans, living together for mutual benefit and moving towards an ecological philosophy.

Dawood’s suite of paintings, Labanof Cycle, are based on research with the Laboratory of Anthropological Forensics (Labanof) at the University of Milan – an institute that conducts research on personal effects lost by migrants during sea crossings to Lampedusa, in order to help families identify missing relatives. A series of artefacts and objects from the Labanof archive provide the visual references for the textile works. These were developed in dialogue with the renowned textile manufacturer Fortuny, and incorporate their handmade fabrics. These works are a poignant reminder of the ongoing migrant crisis that continues to develop throughout the world – most recently with the war in Sudan.