Introduction
Spaces for species (and pieces) is Rosa Barba’s first monographic exhibition in a German museum, after numerous exhibitions in museums abroad. Barba was born in 1972 in Agrigento, Italy, but grew up in Germany, and now lives and works in Berlin. She studied theatre and film at the University of Erlangen, visual arts and film at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, and held a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.
Geological, historical and socio-political phenomena are often the starting point for Barba’s process-driven explorations. These then find their way into her films, which she shoots and edits herself, and also underscores with passages of her own text and music. The immediate effect is documentary-like, yet the works remain in essence epic, highly subjective narratives.