Coordinates at Dawn
Curated by Martina Weinhart with Theresa Dettinger
Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt
25 September 2025 – February 2026

At the Schirn Kunsthalle, Filipino-Canadian artist Stephanie Comilang presents her most recent films, Search For Life I & II (2024/25) for the first time in Germany, alongside Diaspora Ad Astra (2020).

The exhibition connects the ocean and seafaring, which have shaped the island nation of the Philippines, with questions of indigenous culture and cultural exchange. Comilang addresses migratory experiences and explores economics, labor, technology, and postcolonial entanglements in a global context.

Humanity and nature, home, labor migration and diaspora, as well as the use of natural resources, are recurring themes in her multifaceted narratives, melting into a personal filmic style that she defines as science-fiction documentaries.

Comilang delves deeply into contrasting contexts, combining research and historical facts with fictional elements and the personal narratives of various protagonists, repeatedly raising questions of belonging and the search for (one’s own) identity.

Search for Life I, commissioned and produced by Fundación TBA21, is dedicated to the everyday lives of a Filipino sailor and artist on a cargo ship, as well as a florist who escaped life at sea, connecting their biographies with a narrative about the monarch butterfly, a migratory butterfly that travels enormous distances.

The second part of the cinematic diptych, commissioned by TBA21, Sharjah Art Foundation and The Vega Foundation, interweaves stories about the transformation of traditional pearl fishing through encounters with indigenous divers, the “Mother of Pearls” who runs a pearl farm, and a second-generation Emirati-Filipino migrant who straddles cultures as a dancer in a K-pop group.

Comilang juxtaposes fairytales with harsh realities. The artist technically combines fiction and authenticity through impressive high-end productions filmed with drones and smartphones, which she combines with lo-fi footage such as vlog vignettes or livestreams.