Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino (Brazil, 1989) lives and works in Berlin, Germany. They hold a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Federal Fluminense University Law School and have completed a postgraduate artistic residency program at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig. Through score, sculpture, text, photography, sound, and video, the artist explores the remaining structures of the transatlantic colonial project, focusing on institutional critique, language, and objecthood. Celestino has been awarded numerous prizes, residencies, and grants, including the ars viva prize for visual arts, Germany (Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft); Arbeitsstipendium Bildende Kunst (Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt), Pampulha Grant, Brazil (Belo Horizonte Municipal Foundation for Culture); Ducato Prize, Italy; Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, Germany (Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony); Between Bridges Foundation, Germany; La Becque, Switzerland (The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia); PACT Zollverein, Germany; British Council, UK; and Pivô, Brazil. Other accolades include Villa Romana 2026 (nominee), Günther-Peill-Stiftung 2026 (nominee), Stipendium der Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden und des Nassauischen Kunstvereins Wiesbaden 2025 (nominee), Solo Award Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2024 (selected), and the III Reynaldo Roels Jr. Award (finalist).
The work, composed of three audio channels, echoes Celestino’s mental landscape surrounding dependency, institutional fragility, the absence of reparation, collective memory, trauma, and the cultural and artistic trends of the 2000s, drawing on the lyrics of Bring Me to Life, the iconic Evanescence song.
The piece was commissioned by Expedition, the online program of Liste Art Fair Basel, as part of the project As We Leave the Window Open, and was awarded the Ducato Prize in 2023.

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