(UN)TRADEABLE INSTALATION

(Un)Tradeable is a large-scale participatory installation by Eneri, developed for the 70th floor of the World Trade Center in New York and occupying approximately 2,500 square meters. Originally invited to intervene on a limited number of windows, she expanded the proposal into a full-floor environment that transformed an empty corporate interior into a site for collective reflection, public exchange, and institutional friction.

Developed in direct response to the panoramic view of Manhattan, the installation unfolded through four thematic zones addressing migration, borders, systemic inequality, and planetary urgency. Text written directly onto the windows placed these questions into contact with the city itself, turning the skyline into an active part of the work and framing the World Trade Center not simply as a backdrop, but as a charged site from which to ask what must remain beyond negotiation.

Created in collaboration with João Correia, (Un)Tradeable combined architectural writing, dialogue-based activations, participatory structures, and a wider network of civic and institutional interlocutors. Rather than treating participation as supplementary, the project positioned it as one of its central materials, allowing the installation to be shaped by the voices, testimonies, and gestures of those who entered it.

Grounded in Eneri’s practice as a pixadora, (Un)Tradeable extended writing beyond the scale of the mark and into architecture, collective encounter, and critical space-making. More than a site-specific installation, the work reconfigured the office floor as a temporary civic platform where language became a tool for confrontation, memory, and collective positioning.

From Written Words to Spoken Words

Through From Written Words to Spoken Words, the installation moved from inscription into dialogue. A series of conversations and activations, developed with the support of Missions Publiques, used the phrases written on the glass as starting points for public reflection on climate, migration, democracy, belonging, and inequality. These exchanges expanded the work beyond contemplation, activating it as a space where written language could generate speech, disagreement, listening, and shared thought.

Participatory Stations

Four interactive stations invited visitors to respond through writing and symbolic action. One asked where their ancestors came from and what brought them here, using a map marked with pins and written testimonies. Another took the form of a contract in which participants declared what was non-negotiable and signed their names beneath it. A third invited reflections on how to honor those who came before through an altar structure incorporating elements from Quimbanda, where written responses could be offered. A fourth asked visitors to articulate commitments toward future generations by attaching their reflections to a tree-like form. Together, these stations transformed the installation into a living archive of memory, responsibility, ancestry, and desire.

Map of Catalysts

The project also included a Map of Catalysts, connecting the installation to organizations and frameworks working across democracy, climate justice, migration, civic participation, and inclusive governance. Referencing institutions such as Apolitical Foundation, Berggruen Institute, CIVIX Colombia, Common Home of Humanity, Democracy and Culture Foundation, Global Coalition for Inclusive AI, Missions Publiques, and Sustainable Ocean Alliance, this element expanded the conceptual field of the work, linking symbolic gesture to broader structures of political and social imagination.

Watch the video below:

Eneri and João Correia talking about the (un)Tradeable project at Art For Tomorrow, Triennale di Milano.