The ghost that haunts Europe
The untouchable monument to the eternal Lenin, which stands in her hometown of Stolin, has been transformed by Belarusian artist Ala Savashevich into an ephemeral spirit made of felt. She left only the impersonal clothing of the monumental statue – a suit and a coat. An empty shell, which she placed on a pedestal on wheels, making it mobile and easy to move. The opposite of a permanent, monolithic monument. It is her interpretation of a particular monument, but also of her attitude towards monuments in general.
“The starting point of my work was the monument as an art form, then the person it represents, in this case Lenin. My work is not a monument in the standard sense of the word. It depicts an intangible spirit – a spectre that haunts Europe; once a living person that provoked real fear, now just an image of history and memory that provokes general hostility and anger,” says Ala Savashevich.
An artist who was born somewhat symbolically in 1989, the beginning of the end of communist totalitarianism in Europe. But for her homeland – Belarus – the hope for freedom was gradually fading, and now Ala Savashevich has no chance to look into it. And so she has lived in Poland for ten years.
“Many people perceive monuments as a burden permanently inscribed in the urban landscape, or they (mis)perceive them against the background of everyday activities. Similarly, the political conflicts that have shaped and continue to shape our cities go unnoticed in the everyday, yet their ghost still hangs in the air. In order to be able to “see” the monument again, to “discover” its history, I decided to focus on its clothing and return it to its original qualities – the sculptural material (stone) has once again become fabric – felt. The figure inside the fabric disappears as something mythical and mysterious. And when the figure is absent, its history also disappears. What remains is an impersonal garment – an empty wrapping,” adds Ala Savashevich.
Her Spirit can be seen together with other works by forty artists from Central Europe at the Olomouc Museum of Art in the exhibition “SEFO Triennial 2024.Moments” until the end of this year.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)