Siudadanos
During exhibition “Nexus”
MOCA, Taipei, Taiwan 2023
Capitalism and global politics are known factors that resulted in climate change significantly impacting all islands where environmental disasters are rapidly increasing. The work "Siudadanos," a 2-channel audiovisual installation, is characterized by a multimodal assemblage of Emanuelson's recordings where she lets us immerse in images of St. Maarten after Hurricane Gonzalo (2014). "Siudadanos" pours you with voices, sounds of wind & sea, miscellaneous ambient noise, singing birds, the barking of neighbourhood dogs, and different music genres. Emanuelson's first-hand interviews, sounds & video recordings offer an appreciation of life on St. Maarten and explore the various reasons for divergence, the residue of the colonial era, and the subsequent period of hyper-industrialization in the Caribbean. In recognizing the ever-changing plurality of the population of the islands, she shares contemplative thoughts of islanders on provoking ideas around national unity within a continuously changing and growing population on the Dutch side.