Sunset Kino – Ofri Cnaani
13. 8. 25, 7 p.m.
Films by Ofri Cnaani
Introduction by Jess Łukawska, Salzburger Kunstverein. Followed by a Q&A with Ofri Cnaani and Jess Łukawska.
Ground Control: When The Horizon Becomes a Frontier, 2023, 17 min 32 sec
Ground Control: When The Horizon Becomes a Frontier is a video created in collaboration with astronaut Eytan Stibbe during his mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Offering a different kind of virtual tour to a place one cannot reach—space—the work reflects on the politics of representing the “new space,” a rapidly evolving techno-political arena undergoing accelerated privatization. It traces the transformation of space from a distant horizon into a new technological and economic frontier.
We, Work, 2019, 9 min 15 sec
What is the ‘shelf life’ of an object once it enters an art institution’s collection? What potential do these items hold to mark a shift in the relationship between art, labor, and social responsibility? Filmed inside the storage facilities of an 80-year-old socialist collection museum located on a Kibbutz, the video examines the status of artworks when they are no longer on display. It reflects on ideological shifts surrounding the concept of work and solidarity, and considers the working conditions within and around cultural institutions.
Leaking Lands, 2023, 22 min 44 sec
Leaking Lands, a three-channel video, recounts the story of the devastating fire that destroyed two centuries’ worth of treasures at Brazil’s National Museum, leaving almost no physical or digital trace of its building or collection. Today, the only way to “visit” the museum is through scattered digital remains, including a photo archive contributed by WikiCommons users and a Google virtual tour. These fragments are mobilized to perform a ‘digital séance,’ negotiating new sites of techno-political struggle.
Minor Inscriptions, 2025, 11 min 11 sec
Minor Inscriptions investigates the invisible borders imposed by martial law in Jaffa between 1948 and 1950. Using archival documents, maps, testimonies, and video fragments, the work traces boundaries that have vanished physically yet remain embedded in current spatial, technological, and political infrastructures, actively shaping the present. It reflects on forms of “bureaucratic violence,” where control is administered through invisibility, enforced via protocols and permits—daily practices that regulate movement and access. Although martial law officially ended, its logic persists, continuing to structure contemporary urban life.
key data
- Venue
- Salzburger Kunstverein
- Date
- 13. 8. 25, 7 p.m.
- In cooperation with Salzburger Kunstverein
- Salzburger Kunstverein Künstlerhaus Hellbrunner Straße 3 5020 Salzburg Opening hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 12-7 pm
Ofri Cnaani
Ofri Cnaani is an artist and researcher who works across media and performance. Cnaani writes about data and coloniality, digital contested heritage, and performance as a model for creating critical technology. She is a visiting professor at the Institute of Visual Culture, TU Wien, Austria, and a research fellow at the International Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) at the University of Amsterdam. In 2022, she completed her doctoral studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. Until recently, Cnaani was an associate lecturer at the Visual Cultures Department, Goldsmiths, University of London. Cnaani’s work has appeared at Tate Britain, UK; Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC; Inhotim Institute, Brazil; Israel Museum; Amos Rex Museum, Helsinki; Kiasma Museum, Helsinki; PS1/MoMA, NYC; BMW Guggenheim Lab, NYC; The Fisher Museum of Art, L.A.; Twister, Network of Lombardy Contemporary Art Museums, Italy; Herzliya Museum of Art, Israel; Moscow Biennial; The Kitchen, NYC; Bronx Museum of the Arts, NYC; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; Arnolfini Foundation Museum, Bristol; Tel Aviv Museum; Prague Triennial, among others. Prior to her move to London, Cnaani was based in New York City, where she was a faculty at the School of Visual Arts’ Visual and Critical Studies programme. At SVA Cnaani founded the programme “City as Site: Performance + Social interventions.” In 2022 she completed a video with the International Space Station (ISS). Since 2021, Cnaani has co-organised Choreographic Devices, a three-day choreographic symposium at ICA, London.
Website
Exhibitions
Selected exhibitions and performances:
2023 Museum of Contemporary Arts (MAC), Santiago. Centro de Exposiciones SUBTE, Montevideo. Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (IL). Rampa, Porto (PT).
2022 Triskel Arts Center, Cork (IE).
2021 Austrian Pavilion, 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice (IT). Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Petah Tikva (IL).
2019 Amos Rex Museum, Helsinki. Sir John Soane Museum, London.
2018 Performing Architecture-Programme by the Goethe Institute, La Biennale die Venezia, Venice. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami, FL (US).
2017 Tate Britain, London. Art Museum of the University of Memphis, Memphis, TN (US). The Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York, NY (US).
2016 Kisama Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki.
2015 Inhotim Institute, Brumadinho (BR). Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Dallas Arts District, Dallas, TX (US).
2013 Seven Words, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.
2012 Princeton University and Rutgers University. Fisher Museum of Art at USC, Los Angeles, CA (US).
2010 PS1/MoMA, NY. Moscow Biennial, Moskau.
2009 Twister, Network of Lombardy Contemporary Art Museums, Mailand (IT).
