Cultivating spaces for extraordinary artists
INSIDE: 'Altered Landscapes' at New Art Exchange
Altered Landscapes was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by the Spanish Embassy Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs in London.
Altered Landscapes was an immersive multimedia installation which traced a personal narrative through the scarred vistas of Europe in the midst of the largest mass migration in living memory.
For this exhibition delGado travelled to Greece, Macedonia and Calais to record the journeys taken by refugees. delGado has not filmed these 'invisible' people but the places they have passed through and the traces of their existence they have left. In place of the images proliferated by the media delGado presented fragments of experiences and fleeting moments that told the human story of people caught in the unfolding sweep of history.
Through the use of video, photography, light and sound, Altered Landscapes took the viewer on a journey. The viewer navigated the different elements in the gallery space absorbing the experiences of the refugees and witnessing the reshaping of the continent as Europe's horizons fill up with the authoritarian towers of a new militarised border control.
"The INSIDE funding provided us with a valuable opportunity to work with Juan delGado a London based artist with hearing impairment who explores themes of trauma, disability and dislocation. The fund has enabled us to co-commission his new film, Altered Landscapes, which was launched at NAE in June 2017. In this project delGado continued his enquiry into personal narratives and the restrictions on movement, focusing on the ongoing influx of displaced people crossing from Turkey into Greece and Macedonia.
As well as the financial support working with DASH has also provided us with a great opportunity to enhance our knowledge and skills in terms of working with disabled artists and audiences. Helping us to further grow our access programme aimed at engaging diverse audiences with different abilities. Therefore, bringing us closer to our ambition to share our passion for the visual arts and our exhibitions and events with as many as people as possible."