European Capitals of Culture 2022

ECCE HOMO, an exibition in 3 different venues: Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg, IX Fort, Kaunas, Lithuanie, Thil concentration camp, France

The Essence of tragedy is not the doing of evil by evil men, but the doing of evil by good men out of weakness, indecision, sloth and inability to act in accordance with what they know to be right.

Isidor Feinstein (I. F.) Stone : The War Years 1939-45

Concerning the exhibition

Whether it’s a question of modern migration or second world war deportation and extermination, whether it’s a question of industrial processes,
forced exile, modern or historical forms of slavery, we are talking about the objectification and dehumanising of the human being in an extreme
form. This will be the subject of the exhibitions and installations.

The themes of genocide, complicity and culpability, domination, migration have often been called indescribable, unspeakable, unthinkable.
However, to do justice to history we must render the unthinkable extremelythinkable, give speech to the unspeakable in order to deal with its
representability. For in fact this “unspeakable” did really take place – is still taking place - and must therefore be thought and represented.

It must be articulated, because it happened.

To balance works dealing with the unspeakable I will also invoke resistance, resilience, chosen exile and liberation. Not heroic exulting images,
not stereotypical clichés, but evocations of those “ordinary people” who
were able to resist history in one way or another finding force to survive,
fight and emancipate themselves.

Ecce Homo, this is man.