I am an artist-researcher and scholar based in Berlin, holding a PhD from the Institute of European Ethnology at Humboldt University. I also have a background in museum and Heritage studies and Visual Art. Currently, I am a guest artist-researcher at the Berlin-Brandenburgische Landesstelle für Alltagskultur (IfEE) and affiliated with the Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum, Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte.
My work explores the intersection of art, anthropology, and cultural heritage through object-based installations, performance-based sound art, and curatorial processes rooted in feminist ethics of care. My recent research focuses on multispecies studies and the sonic dimensions of oceans and deserts, approached from postcolonial and ecological perspectives. This forms the basis of my current postdoctoral research on the material culture and environmental transformations of the 19th-century saltpeter trade between Germany and Chile, examining its implications for German colonialism in the Atacama Desert and the contemporary global context of lithium extraction.
Contact: m@melaniegarland.com
Website: melaniegarland.com
Publications
2026
Melanie Garland
Making Places Inbetween—Resisting and Inhabiting Border Regimes. Book Forthcoming
transcript Verlag , Forthcoming, (PhD book).
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title = {Making Places Inbetween—Resisting and Inhabiting Border Regimes.},
author = {Melanie Garland},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
urldate = {2026-01-01},
publisher = {transcript Verlag },
note = {PhD book},
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pubstate = {forthcoming},
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Melanie Garland
Sounding a Speculative Past: Sound of histories as a global resonance. Journal Article Forthcoming
In: HUB Journal of Research in Art, Design and Society, iss. 6, Forthcoming, (RC Multimodal publication).
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title = {Sounding a Speculative Past: Sound of histories as a global resonance.},
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year = {2026},
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journal = {HUB Journal of Research in Art, Design and Society},
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Melanie Garland, Maier, J. C., Lyonga, Hn., Person, N.
Traces of Counter-Mapping: Rethinking Berlin after the Berlin Conference. Book Chapter Forthcoming
In: Lee Douglas, Magdalena Buchczyk, Aimée Joyce (Ed.): The (Counter) Atlas, De Gruyter Press, Forthcoming, (Peer review).
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title = {Traces of Counter-Mapping: Rethinking Berlin after the Berlin Conference.},
author = {Melanie Garland and Maier, J. C. and Lyonga, Hn. and Person, N. },
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year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
urldate = {2026-01-01},
booktitle = {The (Counter) Atlas},
publisher = {De Gruyter Press},
note = {Peer review},
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2025
Melanie Garland
Sounding the Maltese Archipelago Frequencies. Journal Article
In: High Pitch Magazine, iss. 2, 2025, (Sonic Essay).
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title = {Sounding the Maltese Archipelago Frequencies.},
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year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-01},
urldate = {2026-01-01},
journal = {High Pitch Magazine},
issue = {2},
note = {Sonic Essay},
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pubstate = {published},
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Melanie Garland
Water Narratives: Islands as Spaces of Possibility Journal Article
In: Journeys Ocean Archive, “OCEAN / UNI's bárawa, 2025, (Sonic Essay).
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title = {Water Narratives: Islands as Spaces of Possibility},
author = {Melanie Garland},
year = {2025},
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journal = {Journeys Ocean Archive, “OCEAN / UNI's bárawa},
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2024
Melanie Garland
Collective listening as an ethnographic method: 'Oceanic Memory', a sonic experience as an active listening exercise. Journal Article
In: Tsonami Ediciones Valparaíso, 2024, (Emanates from the PhD project).
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title = {Collective listening as an ethnographic method: 'Oceanic Memory', a sonic experience as an active listening exercise.},
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year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
urldate = {2024-01-01},
journal = {Tsonami Ediciones Valparaíso},
note = {Emanates from the PhD project},
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pubstate = {published},
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Melanie Garland
Attempting to Decolonize Oneself: Sonorities between the ‘West’ and the ‘South’. Journal Article
In: The February Journal, iss. 3, pp. 139-160, 2024, (Emanates from the PhD project; Sonic essay).
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title = {Attempting to Decolonize Oneself: Sonorities between the ‘West’ and the ‘South’.},
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journal = {The February Journal},
issue = {3},
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Melanie Garland
Sensing the City: Decolonial Flânerie and the Traces of Listening and Remembering in Contested Urban Spaces. Book Chapter
In: Anna-Sophie Springer, Raul Walch (Ed.): Owned by Others: A Map to Possession Island., pp. 175-184, K. Verlag, 2024.
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title = {Sensing the City: Decolonial Flânerie and the Traces of Listening and Remembering in Contested Urban Spaces.},
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year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
urldate = {2024-01-01},
booktitle = {Owned by Others: A Map to Possession Island.},
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I am an artist-researcher and scholar based in Berlin, holding a PhD from the Institute of European Ethnology at Humboldt University. I also have a background in museum and Heritage studies and Visual Art. Currently, I am a guest artist-researcher at the Berlin-Brandenburgische Landesstelle für Alltagskultur (IfEE) and affiliated with the Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum, Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte.