MOTHERLAND IS CALLING is the name of an artistic research-based project by Olga Ganzha. The title comes from the name of the statue in Volgograd city (formerly Stalingrad) in Russia. The Motherland is calling statue is a part of a monumental ensemble commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad that was built in 1967. It is a gigantic woman – motherland – with a mouth wide open, calling her children to war, holding her sword high up. The whole territory around the sculpture is a monumental ensemble and a burial place for about 45.000 Soviet soldiers.
This place has a saint horror atmosphere and is perceived as being sacred in Russian ideology. The same way it is presented in many related texts, songs, and films. The feeling of this saint horror [in front of the sculpture, in front of the motherland, in front of the mother, in front of war-related objects, in front of the ‘war’] was cultivated from the childhood and is forming a part of Soviet identity. The project evaluates onto this saint horror and brings attention to the questions of memory, identity, mother figure in hands of propaganda, female role in war cults... and motherland.
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At the last day of Motherland is calling presentation at Corridor PS a public program will be held in a form of talks and discussion on the topics of femininity, motherland and wars cults. Following theoreticians (and practitioners) will be invited: Faranak Mirjalili, Olga Sezneva, Anna Dasović.
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Faranak Mirjalili. Sacred role of the feminine archetypes: a talk and a ritual.
Faranak Mirjalili, Jungian Analyst in Training and PhD Researcher on Feminine Consciousness and Embodiment. Faranak is a devoted seeker of the Sacred Feminine and has dedicated her life's work to the research, revival and serving of the Feminine and her role in a time of global crisis. www.faranakmirjalili.net
Olga Sezneva. Matters of memory: urban space and the politics of commemoration in Russia and beyond.
Olga Sezneva is a sociologist, writer and curator whose interests lie at the intersection of identity, politics and urban space. She is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology at UvA. Olga received her PhD from New York University and was a Harper Fellow in the Society of Fellows at the University of Chicago. Between 2013 and 2017 Olga also was Professor of Urban Studies at European University at St. Petersburg, Russia. Her work appeared in The International Journal of Urban History, Poetics, Critical Historical Studies and EuropeNow.
Anna Dasović. Immovable bodies, or Mothers without tongues. Notes on the aesthetic representation of the body, the voice and the gaze of the ‘Mourning Mother’.
Anna Dasović is a visual artist. In her practice, she focuses on how visual traces, objects, documents or stories are used to frame people and their histories. She looks specifically at the role of documents and testaments that relate to wars, colonialism and violent conflicts. The production and use of (visual) documents are examined in their quest for truth finding, while simultaneously exposing their legislative and archival inability to cope with trauma caused by violence. Anna is currently a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.
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The public program is curated by Katia Krupennikova.
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MOTHERLAND IS CALLING is made possible with the support of Amsterdam Art Fund (AFK). Art-book is supported by Wilhelmina E.Jansen Fonds and Stichting Stokroos.