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Draft:Elisa Caldana

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Elisa Caldana
Portrait of Elisa Caldana
Elisa Caldana, portrait by Diana Pfammatter (2024)
Born (1986-03-04) March 4, 1986 (age 39)
Pordenone, Italy
NationalityItalian
EducationStädelschule, IUAV University of Venice
Known forContemporary art
AwardsItalian Council (2019, 2023); Mondriaan Fonds Kunstenaar Basis (2022); Hessische Kulturstiftung Atelierstipendium (London, 2016–2017)
Websiteelisacaldana.info

Elisa Caldana (b. 4 March 1986, Pordenone, Italy) is an Italian visual artist whose work spans sculpture, installation, performance, film, and writing. Her practice explores themes related to architecture, public space, monuments, and collective identity.[1]

Early life and education

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Caldana grew up in northern Italy, where she assisted her father at a rehabilitation centre for injured birds of prey that operated from their home between 1988 and 2011.[2] She studied visual arts at the IUAV University of Venice, and later attended the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, graduating in 2013.[3][4] During her time at the Städelschule, she studied under Simon Starling[5], who won the Turner Prize in 2005, and participated in the Pure Fiction seminar led by science fiction writer and cultural critic Mark von Schlegell.[6]

Work

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Caldana has exhibited internationally in museums and art institutions, including MACTE Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli (2025); WEST, The Hague (2024); SIC, Helsinki (2024); MAXXI Museum, Rome (2023); Italian Cultural Institute, Mexico City (2022); MAMbo Museum, Bologna (2021); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2020);[7] ROZENSTRAAT, Amsterdam (2020); TOKAS Hongo, Tokyo (2019); ar/ge Kunst Kunstverein, Bozen (2017); and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2016/2019).[8] Her work frequently engages with themes of ecology, postcolonialism, and the relationship between human and non-human subjects.[9]

Among her representative works, The Falcon of Karachi is a multi-format artistic investigation that explores the laggar falcon, a Near Threatened species native to South Asia. The project was presented in 2025 as a solo exhibition at MACTE – Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli[10] and draws from ecological fieldwork to examine the complex cultural and economic relationships between humans and falcons in Pakistan.[2] A key aspect of the work challenges metaphorical interpretations and instead advocates for recognising birds of prey as subjects in their own right.[9]

As part of the research process, Caldana traveled to Pakistan to observe wild laggar falcons and local falconry practices. In the publication accompanying the project, philosopher Fahim Amir reflects: “Following the bird, we entangle ourselves in a forcefield of power and representation, identity and difference, inequality of wealth and diversity of migration, localism and globalism, seemingly timeless nature and cutting-edge technology, border regimes and militarism haunting old colonial frontiers.”[11] The Falcon of Karachi has been presented at WEST Den Haag, Vasl Artists’ Association (Karachi), SIC (Helsinki), and MACTE (Termoli), among others. The project received support from the Italian Council and the Mondriaan Fund.[12]

While Caldana’s recent projects increasingly address human–non-human relations, her earlier works explore spatial politics, systems of control, and counter-representational strategies. For example, Shutterstreet (2019), a site-specific installation of closed storefronts, reflects on the decline of small-scale commerce under late capitalism.[13] First exhibited at Palazzo Carignano in Turin and produced by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo,[14] the work draws on the Japanese term シャッター通り (shattā dōri), used to describe shopping streets lined with shuttered shops. Caldana described the shutters as “sculptural presences, architectural ghosts, ruins of capitalism. A sort of anti-monuments which, placed in the courtyard of Palazzo Carignano, demonstrate the clear contrast between the sumptuousness of the Baroque and contemporary misery,” while the work as a whole critiques the global collapse of small businesses under pressure from multinational corporations and explores how crisis and decay manifest within the built environment.[15]

Her earlier work, The Island Behind the Horizon (2015), marks a shift from urban landscapes to maritime borders. It consists of a video filmed entirely from the sea—never revealing land—and a related nautical chart concerning a geographically liminal context: the island of Lampedusa. The video was shot in the Mediterranean Sea at the point where Lampedusa—the southernmost island of Italy and the first landing point for migrants arriving in Europe—remains hidden behind the horizon line before appearing to those navigating at sea.[16] Andrea Masala describes the work as emblematic of attention to liminal spaces, noting how the video and accompanying chart relate to this boundary geography.[16] The work critiques dominant portrayals of Mediterranean migration by centering the migrant’s perspective. It also subverts traditional cartographic authority through what Andrea Masala describes as “a map of (in)visibility, rather than of absence,” suggesting that Caldana’s piece reveals “an alternative truth that is not imposed from above, but one that often does not appear in official geographic charts.”[17] The work was first presented in the exhibition Passo Dopo Passo[18] at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, which examined diverse artworks reflecting on movement, openness, and enclosure, framed within an Italian perspective—a country with an intrinsic relationship to questions of migration.[19]

Residencies

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Caldana has participated in several international artist residencies. She was an artist-in-residence at the Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht, 2020–2021),[1] Tokyo Arts and Space (Tokyo, 2018),[20] ROSE Residency (Bologna, 2021),[21] and Vasl Artists’ Association (Karachi, 2023).[22]

Publications

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  • The Falcon of Karachi (Milan: Mousse Publishing, 2024) includes conversations with Elisa Caldana, Lucia Pietroiusti, and Salman Ali, and a text by Fahim Amir. ISBN 9788867496488.[23][24]
  • Times of Crisis (Bologna: Edizioni MAMbo, 2021) features a conversation between Elisa Caldana, Aki Nagasaka, and Giulia Pezzoli. ISBN 9788896296233.[25][26]
  • Never Again (Milan: Mousse Publishing, 2020) features texts by Charles Esche, Gareth Evans, and Mark von Schlegell, along with a conversation between Elisa Caldana, Diego Tonus, and Emanuele Guidi. ISBN 9788867494194.[27][28]

Collections

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Caldana’s work is held in public collections including:

  • MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (Rome)[29]
  • MACTE – Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli[30]
  • Städelschule Portikus e.V. (Frankfurt am Main)[5]

Awards

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Caldana was the recipient of a grant from the Hessische Kulturstiftung.[32] She was awarded funding from the Italian Council in 2019[33] and in 2023,[34] and received the Kunstenaar Basis grant from the Mondriaan Fonds in 2022.[35]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Elisa Caldana". Jan van Eyck Academie. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Echoing Wildness: Elisa Caldana in Conversation with Lucia Pietroiusti". Mousse Magazine. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  3. ^ Say My Name, Say My Name – Absolventen Städelschule 2013 (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Städelschule / MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst. 2013. PPN 1484511549. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Graduation Show: Say My Name, Say My Name". e-flux. 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Edition: Elisa Caldana". Städelschule. Städelschule Frankfurt am Main. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  6. ^ Bourgogne, Leda; von Schlegell, Mark; Murnaghan, Dan, eds. (2013). Dysfyction: Issue 1, Autumn 2013. Frankfurt am Main: Städelschule Pure Fiction Seminar. ISBN 978-3-00-044306-0. PPN 162034436X. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  7. ^ "Topography of Terror". Whitechapel Gallery. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  8. ^ "Elisa Caldana Biography". Elisa Caldana Official Website. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  9. ^ a b "Falcons as Subjects, Not Metaphors: A Conversation between Veronica Pecile and Elisa Caldana". NERO Editions. 19 May 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  10. ^ Di Genova, Arianna (22 February 2025). "Elisa Caldana, il falco che voleva volare a Karachi". Alias (supplement to il manifesto) (in Italian). p. 7. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  11. ^ Amir, Fahim (2024). "Notes On a Local Migrant. Sympathy at First Sight". In Elisa Caldana (ed.). Elisa Caldana: The Falcon of Karachi. Mousse Publishing. p. 130. ISBN 9788867496488. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  12. ^ "Elisa Caldana: The Falcon of Karachi". e-flux. 17 February 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Elisa Caldana – Jan van Eyck Open Studios 2021". Jan van Eyck Open Studios 2021. Jan van Eyck Academie. 2021. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  14. ^ "Elisa Caldana – Shutterstreet". Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  15. ^ Carabelli, Fabrizia (March 2020). "Elisa Caldana: Micro-narratives to tell the failure of capitalism / Elisa Caldana: Micro-narrazioni per raccontare il fallimento del capitalismo". Inside Art (in Italian and English). No. 119. pp. 22–29.
  16. ^ a b Masala, Andrea (December 2021). Enrico Cicalò; Valeria Menchetelli; Michele Valentino (eds.). Map Costruens e Map Destruens (In Italian ed.). Alghero: PUBLICA – Dipartimento di Architettura, Urbanistica e Design, Università degli Studi di Sassari. pp. 885–886. ISBN 9788899586201. Risulta paradigmatica di tanta attenzione agli spazi liminali da parte sua l'opera *The Island Behind The Horizon* (figg. 7, 8) del 2015, composta da un video e da una carta geografica a esso correlata, relativa a un contesto geografico limite: l'isola di Lampedusa. Il video (fig. 7) è girato nel mar Mediterraneo, in particolare nel punto in cui Lampedusa – l'isola più a sud d'Italia, nonché il primo approdo per i migranti verso l'Europa – rimane ancora nascosta dietro la linea dell'orizzonte prima di apparire a chi naviga in mare.
  17. ^ Masala, Andrea (December 2021). Enrico Cicalò; Valeria Menchetelli; Michele Valentino (eds.). Map Costruens e Map Destruens (in Italian). Alghero: PUBLICA – Dipartimento di Architettura, Urbanistica e Design, Università degli Studi di Sassari. pp. 885–893. ISBN 9788899586201. Retrieved 8 July 2025. «una mappa dell'(in)visibilità, piuttosto che dell'assenza»; «una verità alternativa che non è imposta dall'alto verso il basso e che spesso non appare nelle carte geografiche ufficiali.» (translated).
  18. ^ "Passo Dopo Passo Exhibition". YCRP – Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. 14 May – 16 October 2016. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  19. ^ "Passo Dopo Passo (PDF)" (PDF). YCRP – Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. 14 May – 16 October 2016. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  20. ^ "Elisa Caldana". Tokyo Arts and Space (TOKAS). Tokyo Arts and Space. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  21. ^ "Elisa Caldana e Aki Nagasaka – ROSE Residency". MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna. Istituzione Bologna Musei. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  22. ^ "The Falcon of Karachi – Vasl Artists' Association". Vasl Artists’ Association. Vasl. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  23. ^ "The Falcon of Karachi". Getty Library Catalog. Getty Research Institute. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  24. ^ "The Falcon of Karachi". WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  25. ^ "Times of Crisis (Getty)". Getty Library Catalog. Getty Research Institute. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  26. ^ "Times of Crisis". WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  27. ^ "Never Again (Getty)". Getty Library Catalog. Getty Research Institute. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  28. ^ "Never Again". WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  29. ^ "Videogallery – Fuori Tutto". MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo. Fondazione MAXXI. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  30. ^ "Elisa Caldana". Fondazione MACTE. Fondazione MACTE – Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  31. ^ ""Times of Crisis" – Elisa Caldana e Aki Nagasaka". MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna. Istituzione Bologna Musei. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  32. ^ "Stipendiatin Elisa Caldana". Hessische Kulturstiftung (in German). Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  33. ^ "Italian Council – Edizione 7, Vincitori". Creatività Contemporanea (Ministero della Cultura). Ministero della Cultura, Italy. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  34. ^ "'Italian Council' 2023: oltre 2 milioni di euro, i 63 vincitori". Il Sole 24 Ore. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  35. ^ "Kunstenaar Basis – 31 toekenningen". Mondriaan Fonds. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
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Authority control

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