In “Drifting Mangroves”, Zita Frohloff examines questions of cultural rootedness using mangroves that thrive on the border between land and water. These plants with their horizontally growing aerial roots symbolically embody the permeability of cultural boundaries and offer an alternative to the hierarchical root image of a traditional family tree. The mangrove metaphorically opens up a space of possibility in which family history and the search for belonging can be interwoven into a transcultural, hybrid identity.

In her artistic practice, Frohloff combines photography, lumen prints and wax sculpture to create a multi-layered dialog. The wax, which melts continuously under the heat of two floor lamps during the exhibition, reflects the dynamics and changeability of hybrid identities. This deliberate transformation of the material manifests an act of self-empowerment – the realization that cultural roots are not immutable inherited constants, but malleable elements of our identity.