Stephanie Comilang: Search for Life

On the occasion of Berlin Art Week, ChertLüdde presents ›Search for Life‹, a solo exhibition by Stephanie Comilang. The exhibition centers on ›Search for Life II‹, a two-channel video installation projected onto a beaded curtain that transforms the gallery into an immersive underwater environment, where shifting light and shadow are cast over a variety of sculptures.

Moving across multiple geographies and communities, ›Search for Life II‹, commissioned by TBA21, Sharjah Art Foundation and The Vega Foundation, traces the intertwined histories of the pearl as both material commodity and speculative protagonist. Assuming the role of narrator, the pearl connects the stories of Badjao (Sama-Bajau) Indigenous pearl divers in the Philippine Archipelago, pearl farmers in China, and a second-generation Emirati-Filipina K-Pop dancer living in Dubai, where natural pearl diving was the region's primary source of wealth before the discovery of oil. Through these intersecting narratives, the work explores migration, labor, diaspora, and technology, continuing Comilang's distinct practice of ›sci-fi documentaries‹.