“Autumn leaves don’t fall; they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their only chance to soar.” ― Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing


At GalleriaKONE, Dominik Fleischmann presents his ongoing sanctuary series for the first time to the

public in photographs resulting from five years of fall.

The exhibition accompanies the furry and feathered residents of the Dog Shelter Amigos de los Animales in Puerto Rico, the Donkey Sanctuary Paraíso del Burro in Spain, and the Wildlife Rescue Centre Paraíso Carlisa in Costa Rica; moments gathered during the autumn days of 2016 to 2020. The photographs paint the remains of chestnut memories and sky-tall cloud forests. They pay tribute to places where an apple tree became an ailing donkey’s best friend and where mermaid Labradors find haven within ocean waves.

Centered around the three sanctuaries for non-human animals, the series unfolds the leaf-like grace of those who have suffered at the hands of human existence. Animal shelters are eulogies of care and love, of courage and understanding. Yet, even sanctuaries have fences. They are evidence of the heart and pain of our species. They are homes that carry the marks of past cruelties but also hold the light of those who cling to their last chance to soar.

Leaves Don’t Fall is about all these wandering leaves with names like Scrubbles, Candy, Burribu. It’s a tale of donkeys, howler monkeys, and stray dogs and their relationship with beings, human and beyond, who surround them on their last unfalling journey. After all, leaves don’t fall; they fly.

Dominik Fleischmann is a lens-based visual artist and writer. He grew up in a small village in Germany and studied photography in Berlin. He is now based in Helsinki completing is Photography MA studies at Aalto University, after living in different animal sanctuaries across the globe while searching for happy endings on this journey of suffering in the relationship of humans and nature. Dominik draws inspiration from nature writers, ecofeminism, poetry, social- and environmental activism. His long-term projects deal with ethics and empathy for disregarded topics through work that combines a documentary approach with conceptual elements and a lyrical narrative.

Dominik’s work and this exhibition have been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) and the dutch artist residency CultureLand.

More Information:
mysilentkingdom.com