Mana Contemporary Large Gallery - Main Floor: 888 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ

Until June 28, 2026 | Wed-Fri: 4-7pm and by appointment | Sat-Sun: 1-5pm

Free and open to the public - Wheelchair accessible (PATH to Journal Square)

More info: jctcenter.org

 

The exhibition is supported by Jersey City Theater Center with Monira Foundation and NJEDA. 

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Qualia – You Matter to Me 

by Laia Cabrera & Isabelle Duverger

2023, Experimental Film and Three-Channel Immersive Cinematic Installation, UltraHD 8K, color, sound, 10 min. 

 

Qualia – You Matter to Me is an immersive cinematic installation drawing on the philosophical notion of qualia, the felt properties of experience and the essence of being phenomenally conscious. Conceived as a visual poem and immersive cinematic experience, the work reflects on our longing for connection through nature, symbolism, vulnerability, and hope. The installation unfolds in five interconnected segments—Qualia, You, Matter, To, and Me—each introduced through verse, guiding audiences on an emotional and sensory journey through consciousness, time, and the ways we inhabit the world.

At the center of the work lies the gaze: gravitational, intimate, and transformative. Solitude gives way to a fragile form of connection. The smallest gestures, a searching glance, a moment of waiting, art as a mirror of life and its rituals, the multiplicity of the self, a body suspended between falling and balance, become metaphors for vulnerability, transformation, and resilience.

 

Directed by Laia Cabrera & Isabelle Duverger

Original Concept and Script by Laia Cabrera

Featuring Performing Artist Catherine Correa

Original Music by Nana Simopoulos | Lyrics and Songs by Erica Glyn 

Produced by Laia Cabrera & Co.

 

This work is made possible through the support of the Individual Fellowship Grant Awards provided by the Jersey City Arts Council and the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund

More info

 

 

Perennial Land – The Data Forest

by Laia Cabrera & Isabelle Duverger

2024, Immersive Video Installation, UltraHD 8K, color, sound, 12 min.

 

Perennial Land – The Data Forest is an experiential installation focused on care and climate justice that immerses us into the beauty of Earth's landscapes and awakens us to the importance of data-driven insights into our impact on nature. Stepping into a space transformed into a multi-climate forest, tech and tools about resources and equity are seamlessly integrated into the environment like trees. 

Combining visual poetry, cutting-edge technology, and data-driven storytelling, this immersive experience encourages us to reflect on our role in addressing climate change. We want to push aside the modern habit of thinking of nature–culture divide, decolonize technology and highlight the ways landscape contributes to social, political and psychic ideas of space. 

The vulnerability of the environment is directly related to that of certain communities.

Nature does not need us. We need nature.

 

Conceived, filmed, and directed by Laia Cabrera & Isabelle Duverger

Original music composition by Nana Simopoulos

Editing, visual effects, projection mapping by Laia Cabrera & Isabelle Duverger

Additional Visual Effects by Caryn Heilman

Produced by Laia Cabrera & Co.

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This work is made possible through the support of Global Commons Alliance Accountability Accelerator – Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the Mellon Foundation-CUNY-BCC, the Program Grant Awards provided by the Jersey City Arts Council and the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund, and Jersey City Theater Center

More info

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