The Calling is a three channel video installation that focuses on whistling languages, ancient forms of non-verbal communication which are still used in 2013 to communicate in isolated and difficult landscapes.
To conduct research for The Calling, artist Angelica Mesiti travelled to the village of Kuskoy in Northern Turkey, the island of La Gomera in The Canary Islands and the Island of Evia in Greece where whistling languages are all still in use.
For these communities, whistling languages are in a process of transformation from their traditional use as tools for communication across vast lands into tourist attractions and cultural artefacts and are being taught to local school children.
The Calling is a poignant exploration of ancient human traditions evolving and adapting to the modern world. Mesiti’s work speaks to the tenacity and creativity of traditional cultures in the face of technical progress and environmental flux.
This exhibition is the work of Sydney/Paris-based artist Angelica Mesiti, winner of the inaugural Ian Potter Moving Image Commission.
The inaugural Ian Potter Moving Image Commission: a collaboration between ACMI and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust. Exhibited at ACMI’s Gallery Two, Tuesday 4 February 2014 – Sunday 13 July 2014.
This interview with Angelica Mesiti provides insight into her work, 'The Calling', while exploring her fascination with extant and extinct languages.
Related works
On display until:
ACMI Gallery 2 (estab. 2009)
13 July 2014