Abstract
Statement: The contents of DOCfield16 were organized around the theme of “Europe: Lost in Translation”. The program opened up a platform of debate around the private realm of European citizen identity (“who we were, who we were and what we aimed to be; about what we are to be now, and what we aspire to), and went further to provide a more holistic questioning of the identitary, ideological essence of the old continent, and the fundamental values that underlie the coexistence of our countries in a context determined by geographical, cultural, and economic and political borders. Contents included contents and emerging creators on the national and international scene who are familiar with the language of publishing, and exploring hybrid genres and new documentary languages.The conceptual axes of the program were defined as followed: 1– (PAST–ROOTS) Macro/micro identities, localisms, idiosyncrasies, patriotisms and borders, ultra-traditionalist ideologies. 2– (PRESENT–CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES) War, refugees, corruption, crisis, unemployment. 3– (FUTURE–CHANGE) New ways, coexistence, globalization, new generation, new inhabitants, integration, visions from outside
CHAPTER 1 European Man: Piero Martinello, Dana Popa, Michal Iwanowski, France Keyser, curated by Natasha Christia. Palau Robert, Barcelona, 18.05.16 > 04.09.16
Short exhibition statement: Inspired by Jorge Semprún’s, European Man, the first chapter of Europe: Lost in Translation explores the notion of European identity. What does it mean to feel European today? What recollections survive and what memories have we buried of our own volition? Let us initiate a debate on the ideological and human essence of the old continent, and let us reflect on its system of values. While children and young people affected by the drama of war inundate our continent, the generation of the Second World War, which left Europe in rubble and ruins, is still here. They are our parents and grandparents. And those of us born around the 1970s and 80s are the generation expected to take up the reins of the current status quo. To us, terms like ‘Holocaust’, ‘totalitarianism’, ‘communism’ and ‘border control’ still sound familiar. But to what extent is this true for generations younger than ours? Before we head into the future of our Europe, and while old formulae still survive even as old traditions are disappearing, let us reflect on our origins, let us avoid repeating once again the ills of the past and the amnesia lodged in the DNA of our continent.
Curatorial approach: Entitled “The European Man”, after Semprún’s book, the first chapter of Europe: Lost in Translation addressed the issue of identity of European men and women today. Departing from a generational point of view, it emanated from my personal experiences but also encompassed the viewpoint of the generation I belong (people born in the 1970s-1980s, who experienced the old Order and are now assuming the command/responsibility/awareness of the new status quo (crisis / after-crisis / collapse). It attempted a flashback to seventy years of European history through the stories of three different generations, as to uncover the trappings of our European DNA, its characteristics and its illnesses.
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The exhibition brought together four different projects and documentary approaches: First, Piero Martinello’s “Radicalia”, a typological work on the outcasts of Italy. As a so-to-speak folkloric-Pasolinian visual assemblage of the Other, “Radicalia” addressed a comeback to the old values and their authenticity, but also evoked the recent past of the European continent and its shadows: extermination, oppression, concentration camps. The Other was an omnipresent notion in the Festival argument as much as Fear, all filtered hrough our familiar eyes. Martinellos’ work became the introduction to it. On an installation level, we worked with Piero’s original materials, reproducing on the wall his vintage-style mosaics.
The second work was Michal iwanowski’s “Clear of People”. The project delivered the testimony of Wiktor Iwanowski, the author’s grandfather who, during WW2 escaped a gulag concentration camp and fled 2000 kilometers back to Poland. Addressing memory and perseverance, the work delivered in the exhibition the voice of a generation of parents and grandparents and reconstructed the journey seventy years later. Michal’s work had been initially developed as a photographic series but, in this occassion we placed emphasis on the audiovisual testimony, drawing the map on the wall and inserting in it the contemporary landscapes. We also used a table with objects and documents to accompany the existent material. Our intention was to provide a vivid account while reinforcing a transgenerational dialogue, taking into account that our audience here were primarily families -especially children and elder people.
The third work in the exhibition narrative was Dana Popa’s “Our father Ceausescu”. Whereas Iwanowski’s series pointed to immanence, mobility, and the fragility of being as an ever-lasting element of European identity, Popa’s work made allusion to a historical figure that remains vivid to the eyes of my generation. Ceausescu’s public execution in 1989 was retransmitted in television. Popa defines herself as one of his militant children; she was taking place in the parades of Rumania’s Communist Youths. Her work recollects the pictures and testimonies of Rumania’s youngsters who were born after his death in the Post-Communist era, and talks about the Amnesia (voluntary and involuntary) of a generation that is completely disconnected from the past. For this installation, we looked upon archival material –Dana recovered some propaganda posters and we worked embedding the propaganda poster format in the propaganda pieces and the contemporary work. In this way the installation incorporated captions as a meta-commentary with its proper form on the use and application of the image.
“Nous sommes français et musulmans”, the work of France Keyser was displayed outdoors in the garden area. A rather straightforward photojournalistic essay on French citizens who are Muslims, the work displayed in form of a public installation invited against prejudices and Islamophobia. It was addressed to the thousands of visitors that this very central public spot of Barcelona receives on a daily basis. Keyser’s approach contributed to the exhibition the element of a contemporary European identity and a hint for the future -a liquid identity, an identity that enters in full contrast with the solid identity of characters in Martinello’s work.
Two more elements accompanied the exhibition. First, a series of quotes on the wall; secondly, we included a dossier with reproduced press material (covers and interiors from European newspapers and magazines dating from June 2015 to May 2016). The idea was to highlight the transmutation of the idea of Europe during that last year through the eyes of the media, but also to point out the manipulative, populist and harsh use of news from the media and visual journalism today. The portfolio was structured around some invisible categories: the Refugee crisis, the Greek referendum/crisis, terrorism, Angela Merkel, Brexit et al. We were updating it during the two months the Festival lasted. It became impossible not to. It was a precarious supplement of the exhibition but provided visitors with the link to associate what they were viewing on the wall with the everyday use and consumption of the image in the real mass world.
CHAPTER 1 European Man: Piero Martinello, Dana Popa, Michal Iwanowski, France Keyser, curated by Natasha Christia. Palau Robert, Barcelona, 18.05.16 > 04.09.16
Short exhibition statement: Inspired by Jorge Semprún’s, European Man, the first chapter of Europe: Lost in Translation explores the notion of European identity. What does it mean to feel European today? What recollections survive and what memories have we buried of our own volition? Let us initiate a debate on the ideological and human essence of the old continent, and let us reflect on its system of values. While children and young people affected by the drama of war inundate our continent, the generation of the Second World War, which left Europe in rubble and ruins, is still here. They are our parents and grandparents. And those of us born around the 1970s and 80s are the generation expected to take up the reins of the current status quo. To us, terms like ‘Holocaust’, ‘totalitarianism’, ‘communism’ and ‘border control’ still sound familiar. But to what extent is this true for generations younger than ours? Before we head into the future of our Europe, and while old formulae still survive even as old traditions are disappearing, let us reflect on our origins, let us avoid repeating once again the ills of the past and the amnesia lodged in the DNA of our continent.
Curatorial approach: Entitled “The European Man”, after Semprún’s book, the first chapter of Europe: Lost in Translation addressed the issue of identity of European men and women today. Departing from a generational point of view, it emanated from my personal experiences but also encompassed the viewpoint of the generation I belong (people born in the 1970s-1980s, who experienced the old Order and are now assuming the command/responsibility/awareness of the new status quo (crisis / after-crisis / collapse). It attempted a flashback to seventy years of European history through the stories of three different generations, as to uncover the trappings of our European DNA, its characteristics and its illnesses.
Read more
The exhibition brought together four different projects and documentary approaches: First, Piero Martinello’s “Radicalia”, a typological work on the outcasts of Italy. As a so-to-speak folkloric-Pasolinian visual assemblage of the Other, “Radicalia” addressed a comeback to the old values and their authenticity, but also evoked the recent past of the European continent and its shadows: extermination, oppression, concentration camps. The Other was an omnipresent notion in the Festival argument as much as Fear, all filtered hrough our familiar eyes. Martinellos’ work became the introduction to it. On an installation level, we worked with Piero’s original materials, reproducing on the wall his vintage-style mosaics.
The second work was Michal iwanowski’s “Clear of People”. The project delivered the testimony of Wiktor Iwanowski, the author’s grandfather who, during WW2 escaped a gulag concentration camp and fled 2000 kilometers back to Poland. Addressing memory and perseverance, the work delivered in the exhibition the voice of a generation of parents and grandparents and reconstructed the journey seventy years later. Michal’s work had been initially developed as a photographic series but, in this occassion we placed emphasis on the audiovisual testimony, drawing the map on the wall and inserting in it the contemporary landscapes. We also used a table with objects and documents to accompany the existent material. Our intention was to provide a vivid account while reinforcing a transgenerational dialogue, taking into account that our audience here were primarily families -especially children and elder people.
The third work in the exhibition narrative was Dana Popa’s “Our father Ceausescu”. Whereas Iwanowski’s series pointed to immanence, mobility, and the fragility of being as an ever-lasting element of European identity, Popa’s work made allusion to a historical figure that remains vivid to the eyes of my generation. Ceausescu’s public execution in 1989 was retransmitted in television. Popa defines herself as one of his militant children; she was taking place in the parades of Rumania’s Communist Youths. Her work recollects the pictures and testimonies of Rumania’s youngsters who were born after his death in the Post-Communist era, and talks about the Amnesia (voluntary and involuntary) of a generation that is completely disconnected from the past. For this installation, we looked upon archival material –Dana recovered some propaganda posters and we worked embedding the propaganda poster format in the propaganda pieces and the contemporary work. In this way the installation incorporated captions as a meta-commentary with its proper form on the use and application of the image.
“Nous sommes français et musulmans”, the work of France Keyser was displayed outdoors in the garden area. A rather straightforward photojournalistic essay on French citizens who are Muslims, the work displayed in form of a public installation invited against prejudices and Islamophobia. It was addressed to the thousands of visitors that this very central public spot of Barcelona receives on a daily basis. Keyser’s approach contributed to the exhibition the element of a contemporary European identity and a hint for the future -a liquid identity, an identity that enters in full contrast with the solid identity of characters in Martinello’s work.
Two more elements accompanied the exhibition. First, a series of quotes on the wall; secondly, we included a dossier with reproduced press material (covers and interiors from European newspapers and magazines dating from June 2015 to May 2016). The idea was to highlight the transmutation of the idea of Europe during that last year through the eyes of the media, but also to point out the manipulative, populist and harsh use of news from the media and visual journalism today. The portfolio was structured around some invisible categories: the Refugee crisis, the Greek referendum/crisis, terrorism, Angela Merkel, Brexit et al. We were updating it during the two months the Festival lasted. It became impossible not to. It was a precarious supplement of the exhibition but provided visitors with the link to associate what they were viewing on the wall with the everyday use and consumption of the image in the real mass world.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
