MARY KOSZMARY I 2007 I 10’50”
‘Mary Koszmary’ (Dreams and Nightmares) is a reflection on history and possible change based on a consideration of the complex legacies and realities of anti-Semitism and xenophobia. The film recalls the ghosts of history from one of the twentieth century’s darkest moments: the persecution of Jews in the Second World War. In a dilapidated Warsaw stadium, the young Polish left wing intellectual Slawomier Sierakowsky delivers an impassioned piece of oratory, in which he calls for the return of the lost Jewish community to Poland. Bartana utilizes the language and aesthetics of propaganda to make a plea for tolerance.
YAEL BARTANA (ISR/°1970)
Bartana’s works take their cue from the social and political situation in Israel, and its perpetual state of conflict to explore the position of the individual and his or her conflict with power structures. Her work has been shown in major museums internationally such as P.S.1/MoMA, New York, and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. She was also in Documenta 2007.
Mary Koszmary, 2007
Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam + Foksal Gallery, Warsaw