Krystiana Robb-Narbutt
Memory Fugue is dedicated to the memories of the artist’s family who perished in the Holocaust. It is an imaginary search for the relatives and the circumstances of their death. The boxes are devoted to individual members of the family on the basis of traumatic memories and thoughts about the deceased person. Some of them refer to Róża (meaning Rose), the sister of the artist’s mother, who was in the ghetto with her husband and their children, twins. The train carrying them to the death camp is symbolically represented in one of the boxes as a toy train. A rose, pierced by sharp needles, reflects Róża’s anxieties about her family. The twins, Róża’s children, were the traumatic preoccupation of the artist; the cabinet – which contains dolls, dice, children’s brack-a-brack and in the middle a teddy bear, with the Star of David on the chest, hanged by his neck – also refers to them. In a similar manner, each box hides a story of the Jewish family member of the artist. The art of Krystiana Robb-Narbutt poignantly introduces the tragedy of the Holocaust to the exhibition.
Fuga pamięci, 2006, instalacja, technika własna
Memory Fugue, 2006, installation, mixed media technique developed by the artist
II To szczęście umrzeć we własnym łóżku na trzy dni przed przeniesieniem do getta/Lucky Is the One Who Dies in One’s Own Bed Three Days Before the Ghetto Is Established
III Nie ma nic gorszego niż być młodą siwą Żydówką/It is a Terrible Thing When a Young Jewish Woman Suddenly Turns Gray
IV Róża boi się o bliźniaki/Róża Worried about the Twins
V W ręku trzymał kartkę z napisem „Czy Bóg to widzi?”/He Held a Note in His Hand: ‘Can God See This?’
VI Tak mogły bawić się bliźniaki/Twins Could Have Played This Way
VII Nikt nie mógł płakać ani krzyczeć pochowali go pod murem/Nobody Could Cry Nor Scream. They Buried Him Next to the Wall
Kolekcja prywatna
Private collection
Fotografie/Photos: Wojciech Pacewicz