Archipelago of Earthen Bones (2024): Screening and Public Lecture with Malena Szlam

In this immersive three-channel short film, Malena Szlam traces cartographies of time rooted in the geological formations of our planet. From the afterglow of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption to the eroded vestiges of ancient volcanoes in Australia’s Gondwana Rainforest, Archipelago of Earthen Bones explores volcanic lifespans and the divergent temporalities of geologic phenomena. Layered with an original soundscape by Australian artist Lawrence English—composed from the Earth’s own vibrations and biophonic sounds—the work invites viewers to lean into deep time.

Filmed across the Southern Hemisphere, including northeastern Australia and southern Chile, Archipelago of Earthen Bones connects antipodal tectonic cultures along the Ring of Fire. Szlam collaborated with scientists, curators, artists, and Indigenous knowledge keepers to create a multisensory reflection on planetary rhythms and the fragile balance between geological history and environmental futures.

The session will begin with a screening of Altiplano (16 min, Best Experimental Short Film – MIFF 2019), followed by Archipelago of Earthen Bones and a public lecture with Malena Szlam, who will discuss the making of the works and the entanglements between film, earth sciences, and sound.

About the Artist

Malena Szlam is a Chilean-born, Montreal-based artist and filmmaker whose practice reimagines the connections between human beings and the natural world. Through film, installation, and photography, she explores embodied perception and the poetics of analogue processes. Her recent work engages with geology, earth sciences, and volcanology, often in collaboration with scientists and sound artists including Clive Oppenheimer, Susannah Buchan, and Lawrence English.

Szlam’s films have screened internationally at MoMA, TIFF, CPH:DOX, Cinéma du Réel, Rotterdam IFF, and the Melbourne International Film Festival. Her acclaimed 2018 short Altiplano was awarded the Grand Prix at 25 FPS and named Best Experimental Short Film at MIFF. Szlam’s work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, and Palazzo del Governatore (Italy), and is included in the permanent collection of MoMA.

This event is made possible with the financial support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec