Panama (Republic of)

For over five hundred years, the isthmus of Panama, a narrow strip of land better known as ‘the land bridge between two oceans,’ proved itself as a region of geopolitical importance in global transportation. Often portrayed from a Western perspective as a faraway place of exotic beauty and luxuriant vegetation, this tropical nation became a landscape of experimentation to define modernity. Within these limits, an ‘othering’ narrative led to a demarcation of ‘zones of segregation’ alienating nature, Panamanians, and their cities. The pavilion challenges this ideology and analyses three different areas within the Panama Canal Zone, reflected in the three spaces of the exhibition venue.