Barriera presents Kaluchua, an exhibition that celebrates the artistic potential of animal agency. This project is the result of a residency that took place at Treignac Projet in 2018, and presents works created in cooperation between artists of different species.

The title of the show comes from the neologism “kaluchua” that was introduced by the anthropologist Kinji Imanishi in the 1950s to describe social aspects of the behaviour of Japanese macaques (Macaca Fuscata). The word “kaluchua” is a Japanese mispronunciation of the English word “culture” which Imanashi distinguished from “bunka” (“culture” in Japanese) to isolate the phenomenon of transmission of knowledge via learning (and not via instinct or genetic means) from other aspects of culture.

Beyond the concept of “kaluchua”, one may wonder what are the regimes of transmission of knowledge, collaboration and communication between companion-species. This project weaves a network of encounters, alliances, and appropriations: a series of human-animal collaborative works are presented alongside human-made artworks inspired by careful observation of animal behaviour.

For the opening at Barriera, Madison Bycroft will perform Mollusk Theory: Soft Bodies, a performance that dives into the ocean to find a theoretician in the cuttlefish. This work proposes a new discourse of language, subjecthood, and love.

Special thanks to Treignac Projet

Photography by Sibilla Galli