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Rafael Edem Kouto

Rafael Edem Kouto

Don’t Steal Our Sunlight

Winner

Name(s)

Rafael Edem Kouto (1990)

Website(s)

rafaelkouto.com

Instagram

@rafaelkouto

Employment

50% Creative Director

Education

Master Sandberg Institute, 2017, (NL)
Bachelor Fashion, FHNW, 2014

Title

Don’t Steal Our Sunlight

Year of creation

2021–2022

Place of creation

Milano (IT)

Context of creation

Residency, Milano Calling 2021–2022
Istituto Svizzero di Roma (IT)

Collaborators

In collaboration with the Istituto Svizzero di Roma during the residency Milano Calling 2021/2022; Concept and creative direction: Rafael Edem Kouto; Digital art direction: Emidio Battipaglia; Data art: Federico Peliti; Camera and colouring: Francesco Caruso; Sound: EMÆNUEL; Performer: Jonathan Muadianvita; Choreographer: Karin Rose, Accademia Teatro Dimitri; Production: Matilde E. Tettamanti, META – Production; location: Torre dei Forni, Parco delle Gole della Breggia, Morbio Inferiore; Production items in collaboration with:; Crochet: Griscenda Niggli & Rita Bontempi; Print: TDS, Textildruckerei Arbon; Pattern: Joshua Althaus; Sewing: Alice Materni; Leather accessories: Nicola Sartorio

Item(s) shown

Video, frames, top, gilet, trousers, gloves and leather bag

Dimensions

Different sizes

Formats/Duration

Mixed media

Material(s)

Jersey, leather, yarn, metal

Material supplier(s)

Leather: Bally

The video installation Don’t Steal our Sunlight deconstructs and reconstructs the creative process, showing the possibility of creating a new narrative by emphasising the consequences of climate change. • The melting of glaciers and desertification are performed through two different traditional textile production techniques for the creation of unique upcycled garments. The body of the performer becomes both medium and tool: on one screen, the ice sculptures containing textile dye melt directly on the body and the garments, made of discarded and screen-printed jersey. On the other screen, the painting is done by airbrush with natural powder pigments on leather scraps assembled with a special crochet technique. • The two videos were filmed in a disused cement factory in Ticino, a symbol of the exploitation of the Earth’s resources and human intervention in the cycles of nature. • The special effects in the video are data taken from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, translated into disruptive visual elements addressing the trends of expansion of deserts and the shrinking of polar caps from now until 2050.