Who we are

Studio Neotropico is a group of migrant artists and researchers who operate at the intersection of visual arts and science. We understand our practice as an artistic bridge that emerges between human and non-human actors, where intercultural and interdisciplinary projects are generated.

We work from the "Practices of care" and bring together different artistic approaches of art, architecture, biology, botany, urbanism and curation to promote a transdisciplinary approach. Our programme is presented in the form of exhibitions, immersive installations, soundscapes, workshops and artists' talks, which move around three thematic axes: Nature, Art and Community. We see our projects as a cycle of mutual collaboration between nature and people to create society.

Since June 2019, we have established ourselves as a group and mainly worked in the district of Neukölln and Kreuzberg in the city of Berlin, Germany. There we create sustainable networks with gardens, project spaces, schools and other cultural actors, especially with the community garden on Lessinghöhe. In this place, we have learned how to sow, cultivate and care within a community. The garden functions as a satellite studio and production space where we participate in the spread of cultural actions of new green spaces in public places in the neighbourhood.

From this green oasis, we have built up an artistic network in the neighbourhood that, together with a floating platform, has enabled us to expand into the waters of the Landwehrkanal since 2022. This floating art space functions as a mobile space on which we develop a large part of our programme of temporary artistic actions along the Landwehrkanal, connecting different neighbourhoods and also highlighting the importance of water in shaping the city's landscape.

Both the community garden on Lessinghöhe and the floating art space have so far formed the action spaces at Studio Neotropico. These two venues are available to artists* and cultural practitioners who are part of the community. These two locations are intended to be places of integration and exchange where the network is continuously built up and developed.

  • Valentina Buitrago Garcia

    CO-DIRECTOR AND CURATOR

    Design researcher, cultural producer and curator. She is interested in design anthropology and the intersection of design and contemporary art, indigenous art production and understanding non-Western discourses in design and cultural practices.

    From 2016 to 2021 she work at Bauhaus Dessau Foundation as coordinator of Bauhaus Artist Residence and Bauhausfest.

  • Charles Gonzalez

    CO-DIRECTOR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

    Interdisciplinary artist with a background in theatre and architecture, working in sculpture, installation, performing arts and bio-art. His work focuses on the relationship between space, body and nature and the mutability of our perceptions. And most importantly, how to create artworks that enable connections between humans and non-humans.

    WEB SITE

  • Sebastian Ducros

    TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

    Architect, designer and jewellery maker. His work lies between design and the physical representation of the conceptual. As a metal specialist, he focuses on artistic production. His training as an architect makes his work a combination of spatial understanding, aesthetics and technical expertise.