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Kirstin Schmitt

Quítame la sal de encima

Vidéo | hdv | | 3:15 | Allemagne, Cuba | 2019

QUÍTAME LA SAL DE ENCIMA (original Spanish title) The video installation QUÍTAME LA SAL DE ENCIMA (englisch TAKE THE SALT OFF ME) takes a part in a group of works with called „MUNDO POR DELANTE - EL FUTURO NO ES NUESTRO“ which contains photographs, objects and video: THE WORLD AHEAD - The future is not ours; tales of anguish and perhaps some hopes... "And the day arrived that Ikú, the Death, after throwing down so many heads, got tired and did not want to knock down one more. So he went to see Olofi, the Creator, at his foam palace, giving him back his scepter of bone and dried flowers, he said: - „Agé Babá Olofi, since you invented the world and things, I am the one who keeps the last rest of your creatures. Even so, nobody thanks me, and to be honest, I?m tired of everyone running away from me, so I entrust that job to someone else.“ And without letting Olofi reply, he climbed to the top of a mountain and there ecstatic by the contemplation of nature, Ikú forgot the world. At first the Creator did not worry too much about the decision of the Death: „It will not be difficult for someone else to take his place," he told himself. But later he understood that he was wrong ... (Patakí - mythical Afrocuban parables of Yoruba origin) ___________SYNOPSIS - QUÍTAME LA SAL DE ENCIMA Blackout in Havana - Life in the eye of the cyclone ... At the first level, the video deals inductively with the effects of global climate change in the microcosm of everyday life. But basically it's a metaphor that seems to be exposed to circumstances that seem to be beyond our control. ___________KEYFACTS about CITA ME LA SAL DE ENCIMA Installation / video / documentary / dystopia / La Habana, Cuba / Spanish with english subtitles / Cuba 2020 / part of the ongoing exhibition project „MUNDO POR DELANTE“ / 2K / color / unpublished / Video is presented in the exhibition as a loop director & camera: Kirstin Schmitt producer: SAILOR´S YARN collective, Maren Schmitt & Kirstin Schmitt

German documentary filmmaker and photographer lives since 2006 in Berlin and Havana. After studying Visual Anthropology, Mesoamerican Studies and filmmaking in Germany and Cuba, she worked 2010-2014 as filmmaking professor in Luanda, Angola. Schmitt's long-term-projects focusing the impact of transition on individuals. Recurrent topics are premonitions and liminal stages. She captures everyday life miniatures, which she understands as confession of how we are dealing with meaning and meaninglessness of life. Characteristics of her work are the use of the environment as manifestations of inner landscapes and intimate encounters with the strength and vulnerability of her protagonists who often seem to have a presentiment of something, yet it still isn't tangible. Her award-winning photographs (1 place Sony Award, 1place IPA Awards, USA, Px3 etc.) and moving-images have been exhibited internationally at art fairs and festivals (Art Basel Miami-Scop art show, Somerset house London, Shanghai International Film Festival, Dok-Leipzig, SIPF-Singapore international photography festival etc.). She had solo- and collective exhibitions in both Americas, Africa Asia and Europa. Her work got published in a variety of international press like TimeLightbox, the guardian, Spiegel, Zeit online, Huffington Post etc.