Zoltan Kunckel & Lorent Saleh
Zoltan Kunckel
Lorent Saleh
Lorent Saleh and Zoltan Kunckel will transform “The Watch” into a space of listening, reflection, and symbolic construction. The former surveillance tower becomes a poetic machine that amplifies the voices of those who have fought for human rights. Through private, one-on-one interviews, where guests enter the tower individually, the space will hold memory and project visions of possible futures.
The intervention reclaims the tower’s past to imagine utopias of reconstruction, exploring art, cinema, writing, documentation, and activism as tools of resistance — along with their personal and collective costs.
In this intimate setting, stories of exile, censorship, migration, and resilience unfold. The Wachturm — once a symbol of control — is reimagined as a beacon for dialogue. The project links historical memory to present-day struggles, culminating in a collective artwork that archives these voices while pointing toward transformation.
Lorent Saleh
bio
Lorent Saleh, born in Táchira, Venezuela, in 1988, is a prominent human rights defender and student leader who became a vocal critic of the Venezuelan regime in 2007. He co-founded the student movement and the international organization Operación Libertad, leading hunger strikes that resulted in the release of political prisoners. For his activism, he faced persecution, arbitrary detentions, and torture. In 2014, he was kidnapped in Colombia and illegally handed over to Venezuela's SEBIN intelligence agency, where he spent over four years imprisoned under inhumane conditions.
After his release in 2018 and exile to Spain, he continued his international work defending freedom and human rights, collaborating with European institutions and global leaders. He has received prestigious awards such as the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament and achieved a landmark international ruling against the Colombian state for his illegal extradition. His story stands as a symbol of resistance and hope in the face of repression.
Zoltan Kunckel
bio
Zoltan Kunckel / KuZo is a visual artist from Venezuela. The experiences, inspirations, and motivations stemming from his multicultural background are explored simultaneously with the creative potential of diverse media and materials, leading to a unique body of work that seamlessly integrates different cultural influences and transcends traditional narratives, thereby creating a dynamic and multifaceted experience. His work ranges from interactive installations, sculptures, photography, video art, and performance pieces that reflect on national and cultural identity, migration and displacement, human rights, and the emergence of structures of power.