Para Site is delighted to present ‘Offerings for Escalante’, the first major institutional solo exhibition of the artist duo Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien in Asia, curated by Celia Ho. The exhibition features all-new commissions including an hour-long experimental documentary film, large-scale drawings on handmade paper, a site-specific installation, and a 16mm stop motion animated film.

The documentary film, a co-commission by Para Site, CCA Berlin, Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art, and MoMA PS1, is the result of extensive primary research conducted by the artists on the issues of food sovereignty and land justice in Negros Occidental, Philippines. The artists have been researching the Escalante Massacre of 1985: though an incident that took place during the martial rule of Ferdinand Marcos (1972–1986), it is nonetheless emblematic of the injustices that marginalised groups, such as sugar plantation workers, have faced since colonial times in the Philippines. 

In the suite of mixed media drawings on handmade paper, as well as the 16mm animation, symbols of seeming destruction, such as fire and holes on a leaf, take on undertones of hope and rebirth through the artists’ manipulation of eclectic materials gathered from the flora of Negros. The rotating light installation made from onion skin, on the other hand, seeks to reconnect the ‘white cube’ with the land upon which it’s built, and entices viewers with shifting refractions cast over the exhibition space.

Iterations of the exhibition will travel to CCA Berlin, Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art, and MoMA PS1 after debuting at Para Site.

Opening reception on 20 Oct 2023, 6–8pm

Gallery address: 22/F, Wing Wah Industrial Building, 677 King’s Road, Quarry Bay