Opening: Monday, October 2, 2023 at 4 pm Hall of Remembrance at the Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery The Voices of Memory installation by Krzysztof Wodiczko aims to express opposition against all armed conflicts. It has been inspired by and based on the accounts of wartime experiences related to the Warsaw Uprising. Reminiscences of over a dozen people—civilians as well as insurgents and members of their families of younger generations—reveal a complex, multidimensional tale of the year 1944. In conversation with Krzysztof Wodiczko, they talk about finding themselves in boundary situations and about the impact it exerted on their life. Voices of Memory is a work which keeps the memory of the Warsaw Uprising alive. And yet, the accounts of witnesses to the year 1944 don’t fit the narrative of a heroic rising for freedom that dominates the collective thinking about the Uprising. In their accounts, it is a time of ubiquitous death and great fear. The work points to the futility of fleeing one’s own memory whose voice keeps recalling the images of traumatic experiences. People who survived the war cannot forget about it. The experiences of wartime accompany them for the rest of their lives. Voices of Memory can also be interpreted as a warning—a tale passed on to the next generations by the witnesses to war informs the way young people think of armed combat. It builds a perception of warfare and broadens an understanding of what a war really means. Family history narratives inform the sons’ and daughters’ attitudes towards one-time enemies of their parents. Wodiczko’s installation also raises a question of how to remember and how to employ this memory when faced with today’s and future threats. Voices of Memory is Wodiczko’s first spatial project installed as a permanent exhibition Hall of Remembrance at the Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery, division of Museum of Warsaw 168 Wolska Street 01-258 Warsaw Tuesday—Sunday, 12 noon—6 pm more: https://izbapamieci.muzeumwarszawy.pl/en/ |
