The Kunsthalle Bern is pleased to present the extensive installation The Motion of an Alluvial Record by Gala Porras-Kim (*1984 in Bogotá, Colombia). The work consists of an “atmospheric pavilion” in which climatic conditions with high humidity and heat are recreated in a controlled manner. The freestanding wood and glass module resembles a greenhouse which can be entered through magnetically sealed plastic doors. Inside, an open display case shows a collection of living matter, such as clay, sediment, and silt from the wetlands of the Yucatán Peninsula, which, in interaction with water and humidity, reflects the Mayan concept of cyclical time. The installation turns conventional museum climate concepts upside down by not striving for a controlled dry environment, but actively transforming it into a tropical, “wet archive” in which the material remains alive and museum sterility is questioned. Porras-Kim thus continues the institutionally critical approach of her artistic practice: she examines how objects are shaped by their presentation in air-conditioned rooms and conceives art as a sensory medium that can be experienced physically, historically, and performatively.

The work The Motion of an Alluvial Record was developed for and commissioned by Storefront for Art & Architecture in New York, where it was shown in 2024.