Moved by the notion that humans could truly be stewards of the planet instead of its colonisers I focus on observing and addressing the human-nature-culture relationship to encourage reflection and rebalancing.

I use art and facilitation practices as ways of building bridges across ecosystems, communities and disciplines to reconnect people with themselves, each other and nature. This can take the form of sound and voice works, artist books, spatial interventions and performative experiences as well as artist residencies, workshops or consultancies for individuals and organisations, among others. 

On this platform, I share the full scope of my work as well as a journal for reflections related to the human-nature-culture relationship and special announcements.

Bio

Ela Spalding (Panama, 1982) is an artist, cultural producer, facilitator and consultant who graduated in film and photography, with studies in dance and performance. Fascinated by the human relationship with our environment, Spalding has studied ecology for several years. Her artwork has been shown in the XIII Bienal de La Habana, Cuba (2019), the X Bienal Centroamericana in Costa Rica (2016), Bienal de Artes Visuales del Istmo Centroamericano (Bavic9) in Guatemala in 2014, as well as collective exhibitions in Panama, Germany and Austria. She worked with Tino Sehgal in This Variation in dOCUMENTA(13) (2012) in Kassel, Germany; and with Ari Benjamin Meyers in his work Serious Immobilities (2013) for Esther Schipper Gallery, Berlin, Germany. She has been a project manager, educator, voiceover artist, speaker, and advisor on cultural issues. She is Founder and Creative Director of Estudio Nuboso – a nomadic platform that facilitates dialogue between art, science, the environment and society, tackling environmental issues in different bio-cultural contexts in Panama. She is also a founding member and networker for Archipel Stations Community Radio a Berlin-based and international, cross-cultural web community radio with live and bandwidth iterations. She shares her time between Panama and Berlin.