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VIDEO
OF THE DAY | AFTER A YEAR |
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#GET_TO_KNOW_YOUR_NEIGHBORS
CLAUDIA JOSKOWICZ. SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL, 2011, 9'01"
Sympathy for the Devil can be understood as a reflection on space and its influence on the human social dimension. Using the iconic view of the Illimani (a prominent mountain in the Bolivian Andes) two synchronized screens narrate an anecdote from 1970s Bolivia. They each depict the daily encounter between a Polish Jewish refugee who arrived in Bolivia during the Second World War and his upstairs neighbor, the former Nazi Klaus Barbie (who lived under an assumed identity) in a building in a well to-do neighborhood in the city of La Paz. Both men lived parallel lives as neighbors and as European immigrants in exile in Bolivia, mutually aware of each other's presence in the building, meeting daily in the elevator.
Claudia Joskowicz (b. 1968) is a Bolivian visual artist, lives and works in New York and Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
CLAUDIA JOSKOWICZ. SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL, 2011, 9'01"
Sympathy for the Devil can be understood as a reflection on space and its influence on the human social dimension. Using the iconic view of the Illimani (a prominent mountain in the Bolivian Andes) two synchronized screens narrate an anecdote from 1970s Bolivia. They each depict the daily encounter between a Polish Jewish refugee who arrived in Bolivia during the Second World War and his upstairs neighbor, the former Nazi Klaus Barbie (who lived under an assumed identity) in a building in a well to-do neighborhood in the city of La Paz. Both men lived parallel lives as neighbors and as European immigrants in exile in Bolivia, mutually aware of each other's presence in the building, meeting daily in the elevator.
Claudia Joskowicz (b. 1968) is a Bolivian visual artist, lives and works in New York and Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
#MESSAGE_FROM_THE_CURATORS
TODAY MARKS ONE YEAR SINCE WE LAUNCHED COVIDEO19.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR, HEALTH SECURITY MEASURES STARTED TO BE IMPLEMENTED: CONFINEMENT, SOCIAL DISTANCING, SHUTTING DOWN PLACES OF GATHERING AND PROHIBITING AGGLOMERATIONS OF PEOPLE IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACES... LITTLE WAS KNOWN ABOUT THE VIRUS, ITS MUTATIONS AND THE VACCINE.
TODAY, NOTHING SEEMS TO HAVE CHANGED, BUT SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED.
IN BRAZIL FOR EXAMPLE, THE DENIALIST AND TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENT FAILED TO TAKE PREVENTIVE MEASURES AS THE GREAT PANDEMIC WAVE ADVANCED TOWARDS THE TERRITORY. THAT SAME INCOMPETENCE VIOLENTLY IMPACTED THE ECONOMY, AND SOME SOCIAL GROUPS FOUND THEMSELVES HAVING TO MAKE THE CHOICE BETWEEN PUTTING THEIR LIVES AT RISK OR STARVING TO DEATH.
WE HAVE WITNESSED THE FIRES IN PANTANAL AND THE ADVANCE OF DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON, THE GROWTH OF GOLD MINES AND THE CONSTANT THREAT TO THE SURVIVAL OF MANY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, RIVERSIDE COMMUNITIES, PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES. THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS COLLAPSING IN THE FACE OF THE RAVAGING SPREAD OF THE VIRUS. THE NUMBER OF CASES IS THE HIGHEST IT HAS EVER BEEN SINCE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN.
IN LEBANON, THE PANDEMIC WAS ONE OF A PLETHORA OF CRISES WHICH MANIFESTED IN THE TOTAL COLLAPSE OF THE LOCAL CURRENCY. THE SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION CONTINUES TO HAVE DEADLY CONSEQUENCES. THE BEIRUT PORT EXPLOSION ON AUGUST 4, WHICH KILLED 200 PEOPLE AND LEFT THOUSANDS INJURED AND HOMELESS, WAS THE BIGGEST. EXACTLY SIX MONTHS LATER, LOKMAN SLIM, THE LEBANESE FILMMAKER, ACTIVIST AND WRITER AS WELL AS A DEAR COLLEAGUE OF OURS, WAS FOUND ASSASSINATED IN HIS CAR WHILE THE COUNTRY WAS IN LOCKDOWN. HE INCARNATED THE VOICE OF RESISTANCE AND LED MANY BATTLES AGAINST IMPUNITY AND OBSCURANTISM. LEBANON TODAY IS IN FREE-FALL WITH 50% OF THE POPULATION LIVING UNDER THE POVERTY LINE.
MARCH 21ST, 2021.
IN RESPECT AND SOLIDARITY WITH THE MORE THAN 290,000 LIVES LOST IN BRAZIL AND 2,708,503 AROUND THE WORLD, THE MANY DISPLACED AND MADE HOMELESS, FROM NEW YORK, TO BEIRUT, TO NEW DHELI, WE WISH THAT OUR ANNIVERSARY AND OUR DAILY POSTINGS OF THE EXISTING ARCHIVE (WITH PERHAPS SOME NEW ENTRIES, LET US SURPRISE YOU!) CONTRIBUTE TO CELEBRATING ART AND LIFE WHILE SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE COMPLEXITIES OF THIS MOMENT AND THE DEEP SENSE OF WEARINESS AND SUFFERINGS OF MANY.
WE BELIEVE THAT ART CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM LIFE. AND WE DON'T WANT TO BE DISTANT, ESPECIALLY NOW. THROUGH COVIDEO19 WE HOPE TO CONNECT WITH YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SCREEN, SHARING THE WORKS OF 118 ARTISTS IN THE FIELD OF VIDEO ART. TO INSPIRE THE NECESSARY CHANGES, TO QUESTION THE EXISTING STRUCTURES AND TO IMAGINE POSSIBLE FUTURES.
TODAY MARKS ONE YEAR SINCE WE LAUNCHED COVIDEO19.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR, HEALTH SECURITY MEASURES STARTED TO BE IMPLEMENTED: CONFINEMENT, SOCIAL DISTANCING, SHUTTING DOWN PLACES OF GATHERING AND PROHIBITING AGGLOMERATIONS OF PEOPLE IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACES... LITTLE WAS KNOWN ABOUT THE VIRUS, ITS MUTATIONS AND THE VACCINE.
TODAY, NOTHING SEEMS TO HAVE CHANGED, BUT SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED.
IN BRAZIL FOR EXAMPLE, THE DENIALIST AND TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENT FAILED TO TAKE PREVENTIVE MEASURES AS THE GREAT PANDEMIC WAVE ADVANCED TOWARDS THE TERRITORY. THAT SAME INCOMPETENCE VIOLENTLY IMPACTED THE ECONOMY, AND SOME SOCIAL GROUPS FOUND THEMSELVES HAVING TO MAKE THE CHOICE BETWEEN PUTTING THEIR LIVES AT RISK OR STARVING TO DEATH.
WE HAVE WITNESSED THE FIRES IN PANTANAL AND THE ADVANCE OF DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON, THE GROWTH OF GOLD MINES AND THE CONSTANT THREAT TO THE SURVIVAL OF MANY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, RIVERSIDE COMMUNITIES, PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES. THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS COLLAPSING IN THE FACE OF THE RAVAGING SPREAD OF THE VIRUS. THE NUMBER OF CASES IS THE HIGHEST IT HAS EVER BEEN SINCE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN.
IN LEBANON, THE PANDEMIC WAS ONE OF A PLETHORA OF CRISES WHICH MANIFESTED IN THE TOTAL COLLAPSE OF THE LOCAL CURRENCY. THE SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION CONTINUES TO HAVE DEADLY CONSEQUENCES. THE BEIRUT PORT EXPLOSION ON AUGUST 4, WHICH KILLED 200 PEOPLE AND LEFT THOUSANDS INJURED AND HOMELESS, WAS THE BIGGEST. EXACTLY SIX MONTHS LATER, LOKMAN SLIM, THE LEBANESE FILMMAKER, ACTIVIST AND WRITER AS WELL AS A DEAR COLLEAGUE OF OURS, WAS FOUND ASSASSINATED IN HIS CAR WHILE THE COUNTRY WAS IN LOCKDOWN. HE INCARNATED THE VOICE OF RESISTANCE AND LED MANY BATTLES AGAINST IMPUNITY AND OBSCURANTISM. LEBANON TODAY IS IN FREE-FALL WITH 50% OF THE POPULATION LIVING UNDER THE POVERTY LINE.
MARCH 21ST, 2021.
IN RESPECT AND SOLIDARITY WITH THE MORE THAN 290,000 LIVES LOST IN BRAZIL AND 2,708,503 AROUND THE WORLD, THE MANY DISPLACED AND MADE HOMELESS, FROM NEW YORK, TO BEIRUT, TO NEW DHELI, WE WISH THAT OUR ANNIVERSARY AND OUR DAILY POSTINGS OF THE EXISTING ARCHIVE (WITH PERHAPS SOME NEW ENTRIES, LET US SURPRISE YOU!) CONTRIBUTE TO CELEBRATING ART AND LIFE WHILE SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE COMPLEXITIES OF THIS MOMENT AND THE DEEP SENSE OF WEARINESS AND SUFFERINGS OF MANY.
WE BELIEVE THAT ART CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM LIFE. AND WE DON'T WANT TO BE DISTANT, ESPECIALLY NOW. THROUGH COVIDEO19 WE HOPE TO CONNECT WITH YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SCREEN, SHARING THE WORKS OF 118 ARTISTS IN THE FIELD OF VIDEO ART. TO INSPIRE THE NECESSARY CHANGES, TO QUESTION THE EXISTING STRUCTURES AND TO IMAGINE POSSIBLE FUTURES.
