Melanie Bonajo (they/them) is a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

artist, filmmaker,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

sexological Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists app ...

bodyworker,

somatic Somatic may refer to: * Somatic (biology), referring to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells ** Somatic cell, a non-gametic cell in a multicellular organism * Somatic nervous system, the portion of the vertebrate nervous sys ...

sex coach and educator, cuddle workshop facilitator and animal rights

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. Through their videos, performances, photographs and installations, Mel examines current conundrums of co-existence in a crippling capitalistic systems, and address themes of eroding intimacy and isolation in an increasingly sterile, technological world. They research how technological advances and commodity based pleasures increase feelings of alienation, removing a sense of belonging in an individual, and their works present anti-capitalist methods to reconnect, explore sexualities, intimacies and feelings. Their experimental documentaries often explore communities living or working on the margins of society, either through illegal means or cultural exclusion, and the paradoxes inherent to ideas of comfort with a strong sense for community, equality, and body-politics. Their work has been exhibited and screened internationally, from the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...

, to

De Appel De Appel is a contemporary arts centre, located in Amsterdam. Since it was founded in 1975 by , the goal of De Appel is to function as a stage for research and presentation of visual arts. Exhibitions, publications and discursive events are the m ...

Arts Centre and

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

in Amsterdam to Manifesta 12, the Gwanjou Biennale, the Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, the

Kunsthalle Basel Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland. As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre and is located next to the city's ...

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

(IDFA), the

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, the

International Film Festival Rotterdam The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

, and Treefort Film Fest.

Notable work

Bonajo's film series ''Night Soil'' is a trio of experimental documentaries about modern approaches to nature and the cultural implications of acting against capitalism. The first in the series, ''Night Soil - Fake Paradise'', is about psychedelic plant medication, human-plant conversations and how ancient rituals of indigenous descent can be translated to urban environments. The video pays close attention to the female voice, which has traditionally been neglected in psychedelic research. In the sequel, ''Night Soil - Economy of Love,'' a women's activist movement approaches sex work as a way for femmes to reclaim their power in a male-dominated pleasure zone. Their emphasis is on nurturing, educating and empowering all sexes around the power that lays within the female orgasm. The third film, "Night Soil - Nocturnal Gardening," considers how communities come together through alternative and pre-colonial uses of land. Structured around four central storylines, the video explores indigenous land rights, off-the-grid subsistence, racism and injustice in the

food system The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients ...

and the consequences of consumer behaviour on farm animals centering female activists. ''Progress vs. Regress'', which premiered at Hacking Habitat, is the first in a trilogy that questions how technology has changed social relationships through the eyes of centenarians in the Netherlands. This film was also selected for IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) 2016. The film Progress vs Sunsets (2017) examines extinction or the endangerment of vulnerable groups through techno-capital development, but also extinction in an abstract sense, such as that of feelings and thoughts. Through the eyes and voices of children, the film illustrates the complicated issues around animal rights, bio-politics, dwindling resources, ecology, anthropomorphism in which Nature, as the ultimate “other” is seen as a utilitarian object outside of ourselves, and the implications these ethics have on human desires, emotions, emotiveness and sentimentality towards ‘the others”. Bonajo's most recent film TouchMETell (2019) initiates a discussion with children about boundaries, gender roles, physical autonomy and intimacy and the lack of physical contact in this digital age, where we seem to have forgotten the language of our bodies.

Feminism and activism

Bonajo's ''Furniture Bondage'' photography series pairs domestic tools with the naked female body. In 2012 they initiated Genital International, a feminist performance collective event about participation and equality. Bonajo's photography series and music video work ''Pee on Presidents'' is often tied to the recent anti-censorship and sex-positive branches of the feminist movement for its endorsement of female body agency in public environments, resulting in a provocation of censorship laws in the media. As a psychedelic

eco-feminist Ecofeminism is a branch of feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyse the relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in h ...

using technology, Bonajo's activism extends into our relationship with the natural world, using gender as a lens to engage with ecology, spirituality and the body politic. Increasingly it is addressed towards nature and the rights of non-human persons, as manifested in the Matrix Botanica — Non-Human Persons publication, and Matrix Botanica — Biosphere above Nations (2013) film. This performance and film explores the absurd construction of placing human identity “outside” nature. This work re-shapes contemporary human/plant/animal rituals in a desacralized global society, and examines remaking relations with nature on the basis of recognising them not as “things” but as creative, self-directed, originative others. In addition to the film, they also shows how the symbol of nature and animal has drastically changed over the years in a publication entitled Matrix Botanica. This revised version of the magazine makes visible the way our relationship to nature has changed through the popularization of amateur-nature photography on the internet.

Embodiment and sexuality

Bonajo is a certified Somatic Sex Coach and International Cuddle Workshop Facilitator. Their work is based on the principle that when we expand our pleasure ceiling by practicing knowledge around our own body's needs and boundaries, increase sensitivity through presence and cultivate new language, we also create more nuance, depth and safety in our relationship with others. Touch is their anti-capitalist medication to re-negotiate intimacy and body connections in a safe(r) space to counter the epidemic of loneliness and the erosion of our feelings. This is apparent in Skinship_, a touch-based place for kinship_, initiated by Mel. It is a collective run queer/trans/non-binary/genderfluids/agenders/genderexpansive and femme centering space restructuring and re-prioritizing the body as a vehicle for connection and safety, cultivating touch, pleasure, sexuality, playfulness, consent, boundaries and friendship as a form of activism. In 2020, the Skinship collaborated with several educators to offer 21 Days of Selfpleasure, a queer and pagan self love advent calendar. In 2021, Mel collaborated with KABK on the Wxtchcraft Studium Generale talk series, which featured Silvia Federici, Adriene Maree Brown, Staci Haines, Starhawk and more. This curriculum stands opposed to the commodified and tamed cultural representation of the witch, and in opposition to purely rational, scientific reason with its many tools of oppression.

Music and performance

Bonajo has performed internationally at venues such as Paradiso in Amsterdam, Baby's Alright in NYC and Collège des Bernardins in Paris alongside artists such as

Kembra Pfahler Kembra Pfahler (born August 4, 1961 in Hermosa Beach, California, United States) is an American filmmaker, performance artist, visual artist, adjunct professor, rock musician, and film actress. Her film work is associated with the movement known ...

and Bianca Cassidy of

CocoRosie CocoRosie is an American musical group formed in 2003 by sisters Sierra Rose "Rosie" and Bianca Leilani "Coco" Casady. The group's music has been described as folktronica, freak folk and "New Weird America", and incorporates elements of pop, blu ...

. Their band, ZaZaZoZo, is a music project with Joseph Marzolla known for its spacatronic folk sound and animalistic influence. All their music is produced by Bonajo's brother Tommie Bonajo at his Tomster studios. They released their debut album ''INUA'' in spring 2013 by ''Tsunami Addiction''. More recently Bonajo collaborated with Michael Behari to create a vinyl record entitled Single Mother Songs on the End of Nature, published by Bonnefanten Museum. Boundary Boss by Bonajo, Splitter Splatter and Friends is the follow-up, released in 2020, and addresses children on having ownership over their personal boundaries for a healthy solid sense of self and self-esteem in a post–

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...

era.

Current

Bonajo released their first major publication since ''Spheres'' in December 2015 ''Matrix Botanica Nonhuman Persons'' designed by Experimental Jetset, which explores the ways we experience nature through representations on the internet, via YouTube and blogs posting adorable, funny or adorably sad amateur videos and photographs of nonhuman animals. This publication delves into the ways nature education has changed over the years and integrates the voices of animal behavior scientists rather than a National Geographic perspective. In 2020 Bonajo was selected to represent The Netherlands at the 59th Venice Biennale, 2022. They will be working with a curatorial team consisting of Maaike Orlando Gouwenberg, Geir Haraldseth and Soraya Pol. The work will be presented at the Chiesetta della Misericordia in the Cannaregio neighbourhood in Venice.

Selected works

Filmography

*202
Boundary Boss
with Splitter Splatter & Friends *201
TouchMETell
*201
Progress vs Sunsets
*2016 Night Soil - Nocturnal Gardening *201
Progress vs Regress
*2015 Night Soil - Economy of Love *201
Night Soil - Fake Paradise
*201
Woke Up As A Wolf
ZaZaZoZo *201
Pee on Presidents
*2013 Matrix Botanica - Biosphere Above Nations

Discography

*2018 Melanie Bonajo - Single Mother Songs from the End of Nature, with Michael Beharie *2016 Matrix Botanica - How to Escape from an Elderly Home Method 2016, with Tommie Bonajo *201
ZaZaZoZo - Woke up as a Wolf
*2013 ZaZaZoZo - Inua (Tsunami Addiction)

Publications

*2020 The Coven (Self Published), In collaboration with Harmon Fries *202
The Art of Feminism, Night Soil – Economy of Love
(Elephant Book Company) *201
Matrix Botanica - Non Human Persons
(Capricious Publishing, designed by Experimental Jetset) *2014 Pee on Presidents, (Self Publish Be Happy) *2012 SPHERES, (Spheres Publications) *201

(Self published) *2009 Volkerschau Zine (Capricious publishing) *2009 Furniture Bondage (Kodoijpress) *200

(Museumpaper) *200
I have a Room with Everything
(Capricious Publishing) *200
Modern Life of the Soul
(Artist Book) *200
I have a room with everything
(Capricious)

Events and curatorial

*202
Wxtchcraft KABK Studium Generale talk series
online *202
Self Love Advent Calendar
*2020 Skinship: A Touch-based Place for Kinship *201
Party Melanie Bonajo's Massage Mayhem
Sexyland, Amsterdam, NL *2015 QQC Performance Festival, Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL *201
Night Soil Musical Celebration of our Sexual Psychedelic Power with Bunny Michael
Baby's All Right, NYC *2014 HOODOO ∆ VOODOO, Collège des Bernardins, Paris *201
The Feeling Internet
Mediamatic, Amsterdam *201
Qu'est-ce que C'est?
Paradiso, Amsterdam

Solo shows

*201
TouchMETell
Rabo Lab, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, NL *201
Progress vs. Sunsets, Kunsthalle Lingen
DE *201
The Death of Melanie Bonajo, Bonnefantenmuseum
NL *201
Melanie Bonajo: Single Mother Songs from the End of Nature - Night Soil Trilogy
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt *201
Next Level: Melanie Bonajo - Night Soil

Foam Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the reg ...

, Amsterdam *201
Night Soil - Economy of Love, Akinci Gallery
Amsterdam *2015 Company Gallery, NYC *2013 Matrix Botanica; Biosphere above Nations, Museum de Paviljoens, Almere *2011 86 details of Paradise, Outline, Amsterdam *2009 The Grand Exploring Soul and the Point where History Failed, Rijksakdemie Open, Amsterdam

Group shows

*202
COME ALIVE
curated by

Ine Gevers Ine Gevers (born 1960 in Valkenswaard) is a Dutch curator of contemporary art, writer and activist. Gevers is known for large themed exhibitions in which she (often with others) explores the relationships between technology, power and identity. S ...

and Morgan Catalina (

Niet Normaal INT Niet Normaal INT (NNI) is a Dutch foundation that creates large exhibitions on the topics of art and technology, founded by curator and activist Ine Gevers. Exhibition Niet Normaal (2009-2010) Niet Normaal INT was launched in 2010 with the exhib ...

), Utrecht, NL *202
Modern Love
curated by Katerina Gregos, Tallinn Art Hall, EE *202
A I S T I T / coming to our senses
Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris, Helsinki (multiple locations) *202
TBA 21 Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary / St*age
curated by Chus Martinez *202
Point of No Return
NART Annual Exhibition, curated by Saskia Lillepuu, Narva, EE *2021 Vrijdenkers, curated by Nathalie Faber, Amsterdam, NL *202
Phantom
curated by Francesca Corona, Rome, IT *202
Listening to Voices
Futura Centre for Contemporary Art, curated by Caroline Krzyszton, Prague, CZ *202
Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie
Rouen, FR *2021 From a Grain of Dust to the Cosmos, curated by Baron Rosenkrantz, Ishoj, DK *2021 Potential Agrarianisms, Kunsthalle Bratislava, SK *2021 Flowers in Art, curated by Dea Antonsen, Ishøj, DK *2021 Rauw. De afkeer van idealisering, Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam, NL *202
Rettet den Wald!
curated by Anne Berk, Nijmegen, NL *202
Kunstenfestival Watou
curated by Benedicte Goesaert, Poperinge, BE *202
Come Back as a Flower
Helsinki Art Museum, FI *2021 Phantom, curated by Francesca Corona, Rome, IT *202
Pornotopia revised
curated by Sylvia Sadzinski, Vienna, AT *2021 The Institute of Things to Come, curated by Valerio del Baglivo, Torino, IT *202

curated by Barbara Strieder, Oliver Kretschmann, Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg – Hau, DL *202
Musrara Festival
curated by Vera Korman and Dana Sahar, Jerusalem, IL *202
On Earth – imaging, technology and the natural world
Le Lieu Unique, Nantes, FR *202
Empathie. Geen mens is een eiland
curated by Imke Ruigrok, Museum Ijsselstijn, NL *202
Bodies of Water. The 13th Shanghai Biennale
curated by Andrés Jaque, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, CN *202

curated by Katerina Gregos, Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg, DE *202
MAKING KIN
Kunsthaus Hamburg, DE *2020 Kunsthaus Dresden, DE *202

(or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies) Museum für Neue Kunst Freiburg, DE *201
TouchMeTell
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, NL *201
Rencontres d’Arles
Arles, FR *201
Do Not Disturb
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR *201
Progress vs. Sunsets. Re-formulating the Nature Documentary
Kunsthalle Lingen, DE *201
Be Fragile! Be Brave! (Night Soil-Economy of Love)
curated by Rebeka Põldsam, Pori Museum, FI *201
Vrijheid. Vijftig Nederlandse Kernkunstwerken sinds 1968
curated by Hans den Hartog Jager, Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, NL *201
Creatures Made to Measure—Animals and Contemporary Design
(Progress vs Sunsets), an exhibition by Martha Herford Museum in collaboration with Tanja Seiner, Design Museum, Ghent, BE *201
Exhibition Nam June Paik Awards
2018, Westfälischer Kunstverein, DE *2018 Out of Office, Singer Museum, Laren, NL *201
Een ontembare kracht
Cobra Museum, Amstelveen, NL *2018 ABN AMRO collection exhibition, 'Natural' Constructions - curated by Danila Cahen, Circle ART, Amsterdam, NL *2018 Genius Loci (Night Soil—Fake Paradise), Parc Saint Léger, Pougues-les-Eaux, FR *201
Creatures Made to Measure—Animals and Contemporary Design
(Progress vs Sunsets), Martha Herford Museum, DE *201
Bloot/Exposed
(Peeing on Presidents), Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen, NL *201
Freedom of Movement (Progress vs. Sunsets)
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL *2018 Guangzhou Triennial (Progress vs. Sunsets), Guangzhou Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China *201
Manifesta 12
Palermo, IT *2018 Anima Mundi, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL *2018 Haus der Sinnsuche, gutes leben durch Kultur, curated by Ellen Blumenstein, Kunstsaele, Berlin, DE *201
Object Love
de Domijnen, Sittard, NL *2018 Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (RIBOCA), curated by Katerina Gregos, Riga *2018 Reis naar de toekomst, Tussendiepen, Drachten, NL *201
Blind Faith: Between the Visceral and the Cognitive in Contemporary Art
Haus der Kunst, München, DE *201
Ten Days Six Nights
Tate Modern, London *201
Exhibition Prix de Rome
2017, Kunsthal, Rotterdam *201
Homeward Bound
Nicodim gallery, Los Angeles, USA *201
Once more, with feeling
curated by Martine van Kampen, KAF Expo, Almere stad, NL *201

Schwarz Foundation, curated by Katerina Gregos, Lesbos, GR *201
Ben ik een dier?
De Domijnen, Sittard, NL *201
CBK Zeeland
FAÇADE 2017: Face your freedom, Zeeland, NL *2017 Screen Present Tense, HDLU, Zagreb *201
Wiener Festwochen - The Conundrum of Imagination
Leopold Museum Vienna, AU *2017 Bienne Festival of Photography, Biel, CH *2017 Planetary Garden, curated by Ashley Lumb & Laura Mclean, Manuka Arts Centre, AU *201

curated by Karen Verschooren & Ilse Huygens, STUK, Leuven, BE *2017 Living in Dreams, curated by Els Fiers & Frank Koolen, De Bond Brugge, BE *2016 Give Me Yesterday, Fondazione Prada, IT *2016 Close-Up A New Generation of Film and Video Artists in the Netherlands,

EYE Film Institute Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in t ...

, Amsterdam, NL *2016 Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, CH *2016 Hacking Habitat, NL *2014 Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, NL

Awards

*2020 Awarded the Dutch Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale *2019 Prix Pictet (nominee) *2018 Amsterdamprijs voor de Kunst (nominee) *2018 Nam June Paik Award (nominee) *2017 Prix de Rome (nominee) *2017 Campaign Artist for Amsterdam Unseen *2016 Shortlisted for the Dutch Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale *2016 IFFR Tiger Award for short films *2015 IFFR Tiger Award for short films (nominee) *2014 IFFR Tiger Award for short films (nominee) *2013 MK Award *2011 C.o.C.a (nominee) *2009

Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds The Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds was founded by Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands in London in 1940 during World War II in order to buy war material for the British and Dutch Governments. It continued after the war as Stichting Prins Bernhard Cultu ...

, Peter Paul Peterich Fonds *2009 Festival Internationale de la Mode et Photographie *2007 PUP Award *2006 Berlinale Talent Campus

Education and residencies

*2020 International Cuddle Workshop Facilitator *2019 Somatic Sex Coach and Educator *2014 The International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York, USA *2009-2010 Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunst, Amsterdam, NL

References

External links

Melanie Bonajo
on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

* https://web.archive.org/web/20160514020229/http://lightra.com/front/gallery/40 * http://artforum.com/words/id=48546 * http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/13/artists-respond-female-body-censorship-online_n_7042926.html * the "anti-selfie" crying pictures http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/15/melanie-bonajo_n_5811496.html * http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/gallery/18284/6/capricious-day-melanie-bonajo * http://www.akinci.nl/Bonajo/Melanie%20Bonajo.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20171107031038/http://www.mistermotley.nl/en/art-everyday-life/melanie-meets-bianca-casady * http://www.stedelijk.nl/agenda/gallery-talks/isa-genzken-door-de-ogen-van-melanie-bonajo * http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/2016-cinema-programme/ * http://bombmagazine.org/article/1000294/kim-hiorth-y * http://www.doitwithothers.nl/category/melanie-bonajo/ * http://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/05/will-the-actors-in-icaros-a-vision-win-ayahu-oscars-for-their-on-set-tripping/ * http://artforum.com/diary/id=59667 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonajo, Melanie 1978 births Living people Feminist artists Dutch performance artists Dutch women photographers Women installation artists People from Heerlen Gerrit Rietveld Academie alumni Dutch contemporary artists 21st-century women photographers