Video Art Programme: 
Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani “Snow Division” 2010

Snow Division is a film by Nina Fischer and Maroan el Sani about an annual winter spectacle in Sapporo, Japan, in which large sculptures are made of snow that only last a few days in one of the main squares. In February 2010, when the artists were in the capital of Hokkaido, the sculptures were centred around the topic of endangered animal species. In their film Fischer & el Sani watch how a division of the Japanese army transports fresh snow from the mountains to the city centre to make the snow sculptures. It is interesting to see how these temporary figures are created after pictures and to watch Hokkaido’s national peacekeeping force go about their work with such clear choreography. The men dressed in camouflage uniforms make the act of sculpting look like an abstract performance.

Nina Fischer (*1965 in Emden) and Maroan el Sani (*1966 in Duisburg) have been working together since 1993 in film and photography projects that focus primarily on urban spaces and collective memory. As a duo, they have participated in numerous international exhibitions, including Manifesta 13, Marseille 2020, Videonale, Bonn 2019, Media City Seoul Biennale 2014, 2012, Istanbul Biennale 2007, Liverpool Biennale 1999, and the Berlin Biennale 1998. Fischer and el Sani live and work in Berlin.