Comprising fifty photographs, a film, and an audio play, “Manitoba” is Tobias Zielony’s most extensive project to date. The short film “The Deboard” (2008) conveys the account of an aboriginal who was a member of an indigenous gang in the Winnipeg prison. When he wanted to quit the group, he had to undergo a ritual: he had to take five minutes of beating and kicking from the others—anyone who survives that treatment is free to leave. The Super 8 camera barely makes him out in the dark of his cell as he tells the dramatic story of how he broke free. It sounds like the stuff of legend. Truth and epic fiction are hard to tell apart in “Manitoba.”

Courtesy of the artist and KOW, Berlin/Madrid.
Text: Alexander Koch