Stephanie Comilang: Coordinates at Dawn

The impressive cinematic installations of Stephanie Comilang strikingly alternate between documentary and poetic narratives. Parallel to the presence of the Philippines as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is presenting the Filipino-Canadian artist and filmmaker in a major solo exhibition from September 25, 2025, to January 4, 2026. For the first time in Germany, her two latest films, Search for Life: Diptych (2024/25), will be shown, along with Diaspora Ad Astra (2020), which can be understood as a prologue to the former. In the show, Comilang’s lavishly produced films are accompanied by textile works and sculptural objects to form expansive installations. 

Sebastian Baden, Director of the Schirn, notes: “Stephanie Comilang is an important and compelling voice in international video art. I am particularly pleased that she agreed to show her latest works in the very first exhibition at our new temporary venue in Frankfurt’s Bockenheim district. The artist’s central medium, video, is one that is widely shared today via smartphones, connecting the daily lives of people all over the world. In poetic images, Comilang’s cinematic installations document global realities while portraying people’s loneliness and relationships and reporting on migration, the diaspora, and resilience.” 

The exhibition links the maritime focus that has shaped the Philippines as an island state with questions relating to Indigenous culture and cultural exchange. Comilang examines experiences of migration and explores the themes of economy, work, technology, and postcolonial interrelations in a global context. People and nature, homeland and diaspora, labor migration and the handling of resources are among the recurring concerns of her multilayered narratives. The artist immerses herself in the context of each film’s subjects as she connects past, present, and future. By blending research and history with fictional elements and the personal stories of a wide range of protagonists, she poses questions of belonging and the search for identity.  

In her works, Comilang confronts fairy-tale narrative structures with harsh realities. She employs cutting-edge technology to interweave fiction and authenticity, combining high-end productions with drone and smartphone recordings, vlog clips, and livestreams. The artist has coined her own term for her films: “science-fiction documentaries.” 

Martina Weinhart, curator of the exhibition, further remarks: “Each of Stephanie Comilang’s works starts out with dialogue, with exchanges between people. Based on the very personal stories of her protagonists, the artist then delves deeply into historical contexts and social structures. Her films’ storylines follow a kind of free-association logic rather than a classic documentary style. They do not set out in search of the one and only truth. Instead, dreams, longings, songs, art, and magic slowly interweave to form a poetic fabric, taking these narratives far beyond mere documentary recording and the communication of information. This approach lends Comilang’s works their own special depth and artistic richness.” 

The exhibition offers a reading area in the foyer of the Schirn that is accessible free of charge during the opening hours, even without an admission ticket.  

From fall 2025, the new print magazine SCHIRN PAPER will be published three times a year at the Schirn’s new venue as a supplement to the existing digital SCHIRN MAG, which is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year. Articles by Gün Tank, Hera Chan, and Anna Deller-Yee will discuss the exhibition “Stephanie Comilang: Coordinates at Dawn.” 

The exhibition “Stephanie Comilang: Coordinates at Dawn” is supported by SCHIRN FRIENDS, with additional support from fiber to the people GmbH.