Border Agency is an artistic research collective that seeks to explore the limits of the landscape in relation to the territory and its inhabitants.

Our main objective is to understand from an interdisciplinary perspective the ways in which people and places determine each other.

We are interested in investigating the power structures that sustain contemporary notions of landscape. For this we use art as a study medium and anthropology as a method, locating, studying and producing visual, audiovisual and written material. We work collaboratively, cooperating with various people according to the characteristics of each project.

Currently Border Agency works internationally with bases in Santiago de Chile and London, UK. Border Agency was founded and is directed by Sebastián Melo, Rosario Montero and Paula Salas.

Fire Forest

The exhibition "Fire forest" invites us to blur the boundaries of what we consider natural and human, exploring the relationships, history and cultural construction of monocultures. The work will be exhibited at the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende from March to August 2023.

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Árboles torcidos // Exhibition (Temuco)

In many of the existing oldest forests, we can find numerous examples of crooked trees, of which few have survived human intervention. Nevertheless, they were named useless in the logics of extractivism. However, the torsion of the native trees allows them to be resilient and permanent within their ecosystem, furthermore this assertion guides us to an important question: How to survive the homogenization and simplification of the landscapes?

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Árboles Torcidos // Exhibition (Valparaíso)

“Árboles Torcidos” is articulated as a series of voices who propose various ways of interaction within the nature; from the body, the language, and visuality, inviting the visitors to immerse themselves between sensitive worlds and approach, from different views, the relation of humans and no-humans.

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What if the ground under your feet cannot be trusted.

Catalogue for the exhibition held in Kunstfort, Holland. With the collaboration of Theo Reeves Evison, Catalina Valdés, and Weronika Zielinska-Klein.

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Eucalyptus: in transit

The work "Eucalyptus: in transit" was installed in the permanent collection of the MNBA, along with the work "Eucalyptus" (1919) by the artist Carlos Dorlhiac. It is a stop motion video that shows a journey through a eucalyptus plantation.

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Bio

Border Agency began in 2012, its members are Sebastian Melo (Master in New Media, Goldsmiths, University of London UK.), Maria R. Montero (PhD Goldsmiths College, University of London. UK.) and Paula Salas (Professor at the Catholic University of Chile) .

Grants and Awards

2019 FONDART exhibición Liquid Landscapes: What if the ground under your feet can’t be trusted? Kunstfort bij Vijhuizen, Holanda.

2018 FONDART exhibición Una Explosión… Sala Chela Lira, Antofagasta Chile.

2017 FONDART exhibición Una Explosión… MAC Valdivia, Chile.

2014 FONDART desarrollo de obra y montaje, The landmine Project. MAC, Santiago, Chile.

Exhibitions

2019 “Liquid Landscapes: What if the ground under your feet can’t be trusted?” Kunstfort bij Vijhuizen, Holanda.

2018 “Una Explosión…“, Sala Chela Lira, Antofagasta Chile. “Hawapi”, Centro de Arte Cerrillos, Santiago, Chile.

2017 “Constitución 1980”, D21 Gallery, Leipzig, Germany.
“Hawapi”, Bienal Sur, Lima, Perú and Valparaíso, Chile.
“Una Explosión Sorda y Grave, No muy Lejos.” MAC Valdivia. Chile.

2016 “Una Explosión Sorda y Grave, No muy Lejos.” MAC Quinta Normal. SCL Chile.

2015 “Estimado Sr. Vecino.” Part of Border Agency art collective. Galería Sala de Carga. Quilpué, Chile.
“Parientes Políticos”. Part of Border Agency art collective Espai Colona, Barcelona, Spain and Galería Metropolitana Santiago, Chile.

2014 “In Transit / En Tránsito” . Part of Border Agency art collective .Wellesley College.USA.