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Mateo Vega (1994) works with moving images. The subjective experience of space is central to their practice, with a focus on the political implications, histories and future imaginaries embedded in landscape, architecture and infrastructure. They research how places that are often overlooked – such as ‘liminal’ spaces, non-places and infrastructural zones – reveal ideologies that shape our world and future. Vega examines which possible futures are lost under the guise of Western, capitalist progress. The artist emigrated to the Netherlands at the age of eight and, in recent years, has increasingly drawn on their Peruvian background in their work.
At Prospects, Vega shows a fragment from their current project, Panamericana Transatlantica (2025–ongoing). The work is presented as a Super 8 loop and is inspired by the desert areas and industrial zones around Lima (Peru). It sketches a speculative post-capitalist future in which people live in buildings that are remnants from the food industry, while the past lingers as a faded dream. From this post-apocalyptic world, Echo – a fictional character – tells poetic stories based on Vega’s Peruvian family history. Behind these stories, neocolonial structures, white privilege and socio-political power dynamics remain an unrelenting presence.
Vega aims to make intimate yet universal histories tangible in their video work. In Panamericana Transatlantica, they use physical locations to show how history and power structures resonate through time, memory and desire. These environments form the point of departure for reflection. Vega: ‘The speculative possibilities of a post-apocalyptic society intrigue me. I want to transport the viewer to a world different to our own, thereby encouraging reflection.’
Written by Kelly-ann van Steveninck