SARAH VANAGT & KATRIEN VERMEIRE - THE WAVE

Opening: Saturday 01.06.2013 // 18:00-21:00

In The Wave the archaeological gaze of the viewer is set in motion: a mass grave from the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) opens and closes itself. In 2011 Sarah Vanagt (1976) and Katrien Vermeire (1979) placed a camera above the spot where nine victims were buried after their execution by Franco’s supporters in June 1939. On day one of the excavation, a digging crane gently loosened the top layer of soil, until the archaeologists came across a skull with a bullet hole. Then the archaeologists continued their work by hand. The skeletons appeared, then disappeared, as if a strong wind blew that removed the sand and uncovered death, a primal truth. In the exhibition, Vanagt and Vermeire present present the 20-minute video with the same title and they project a series of photographs that were taken on the last day of the excavations. On that day the archaeologists wrapped the bones and objects in newspapers, before taking them to the lab for further investigation.

 

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• The Wave & Los Caminos de la Memoria