“Niels Albers creates sculptural and architectural installations that question anthropocentric worldviews by prioritising more-than-human perspectives. For Manifesta 15, he researched the migratory patterns of the 205 bird species whose routes go past Barcelona. Connecting the bird’s flight with the wind and the idea of energy and power that is key to understanding the Three Chimneys, Albers recognised that birds and windmills – critical infrastructure for the shift to green energy – have wings in common. Referencing the Greek symbols for air, water, fire and earth, he then abstracted the form of wings in the shape of triangles, which he constructed from wood and shaped into a curving path. Visitors are invited to walk through the structure, which has a specific height that requires that we bow, in a sign of humbling deference to the migrating birds overhead, whose annual routines are being perturbed by climate change.”

Commissioned by Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana.
Supported by Mondriaan Fund and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Spain.

On view from September till November 2024.