TEAM

CHIARA FAGGIONATO

I am an interdisciplinary artist from Italy, a culture deeply intertwined with classical mythology. Raised in a matriarchal family, my first encounter with the Amazon warrior women was personal before it was academic. My personal artistic practice weaves together experimental film, public art and participatory processes to explore ecology, feminism and mythology. I completed the Art in Context Master's programme at the Universität der Künste Berlin, specialising in collaborative and participatory art with diverse social groups and art in public space. It was there that I met Lina Mazenett, and the project Amazonen in Berlin was born.
Within the collective, my research focuses on deconstructing the patriarchal narratives embedded in classical mythology and the institutions that perpetuate them, particularly Western classical museums whose collections continue to reflect patriarchal and imperialist narratives. Central to my research is the figure of the Amazons, who are consistently depicted in myth as being defeated, tamed or killed by the "greatest" Greek male heroes. I trace this logic of Othering — historically applied to 'wild' women, witches and all bodies and beings deemed outside the norm — as a thread connecting past and present forms of oppression.

LINA MAZENETT

I am a visual artist from Colombia working across different media, guided by an ongoing interest in ecology, cosmopolitics and non-Western cosmologies. I hold a postgraduate degree in Amazonian Studies from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Sede Amazonia), where I deepened my engagement with Indigenous knowledge systems and the environmental and political dynamics shaping the region. More recently, I completed the Master’s program in Art in Context at the Universität der Künste Berlin, where I specialized in artistic practices in public space and collaborative work with diverse social groups. This academic background has allowed me to develop a transdisciplinary practice that bridges research, artistic processes and site-specific interventions.
Regarding this project, my research focuses on revisiting the Amazon territory from a decolonial perspective. This means questioning the Western construction of the concept of “nature,” which has legitimized the exploitation of different territories and bodies. I am interested in drawing connections between the Amazon rainforest and some specific public spaces in Berlin such as the Tiergarten and the Kolonnadenhof, where 'nature' has likewise been tamed, controlled and instrumentalized. These urban landscapes reflect a romanticized and idealized notion of nature as something separate, passive and available for use, an idea that has not only shaped the aesthetics and function of European cities, but also profoundly influenced how the Amazon region has been imagined, represented and exploited.

Amazonen in Berlin was founded out of a sisterhood between two interdisciplinary artists, Chiara Faggionato (Italy) and Lina Mazenett (Colombia). We met during our Master of Art studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin, where we each wrote our thesis on the Amazon warrior women from complementary perspectives — Chiara through an ecofeminist lens in museum contexts, Lina through an ecofeminist and decolonial lens in public space. From this background, our friendship organically grew into a shared feminist and decolonial practice. The figure of the Amazon became our common ground: a mythological archetype entangled with gender, power and territory, resonating deeply with our personal and professional journeys as migrant and feminist artists. Our mission is to reveal the interconnected forms of oppression —patriarchal, colonial and environmental— affecting FLINTA* people and territories, using the Amazons as a lens to explore, challenge and reclaim these histories of oppression through ecofeminist, intersectional and embodied practices.