Catalogue > At random

"A child dies, a child plays, a woman is born, a woman dies, a bird arrives, a bird flies off", is a voyeuristic glimpse of both local birds and migratory ones that make the Philippine marshlands their home for a time.

Shireen Seno is a lens-based artist whose work addresses memory, history, and image-making, often in relation to the idea of home. She was born to a Filipino family in Japan, where she spent most of her childhood. She has had two solo exhibitions and is a 2018 recipient of the 13 Artists Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Her photo zine Trunks, produced while in residency at Objectifs Centre for Photography and Filmmaking, has been exhibited widely. She started out in film shooting stills for Lav Diaz before going on to direct her debut feature, Big Boy (2012), shot entirely on Super 8. It premiered at Rotterdam and won Best First Film at the Festival de Cine Lima Independiente. Her second film, Nervous Translation (2018), is about a girl who finds out about a pen that can translate the thoughts and feelings of nervous people. It premiered in Hivos Tiger Competition in Rotterdam and won the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film. Other awards include: Critics’ Prize at Olhar de Cinema - Curitiba International Film Festival, Asian New Talent Award for Best Script Writer at Shanghai International Film Festival, Jury Special Mention at Pacific Meridian International Film Festival of Asia-Pacific Countries in Vladivostok, and Silver Hanoman at Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival. It also screened at MoMA as part of New Directors/New Films, Tate Modern as part of their Artists’ Cinema program, and at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum for Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions.