Studio Orta

The film depicts the artists incredible expedition to the Antarctic peninsula in Spring 2007, where they installed the Antarctic Village under the most extreme conditions, aided by scientists stationed at the Marambio Antarctic Base.

The artists' choice of Antarctica is highly symbolic, because the “sixth continent” is one of the very few places on earth not subjected to national jurisdiction, but fully protected by an international convention as an environmental and scientific reserve. A free, virgin territory, the last example of an environment not subjected to man’s exploitation, not available for private interests, extraterritorial: a state of geopolitical exception. It is a place where the immaculate whiteness contains all the wishes of humanity to spread a message of hope for future generations.

The Antarctic Village is an ephemeral encampment that references the plight of those struggling to transverse borders and to gain the freedom of movement necessary to escape conflict or natural disasters. The village is composed of Dome Dwellings, hand-made tents assembled with sections of flags from countries around the world, along with extensions of clothes and gloves symbolising the multiplicity and diversity of people. The flags and fragments of clothes are silkscreen printed with a proposed ammendement [Art. 13:3] to the UN Declaration for Human Rights.