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Auschwitz, 1997

Photograph, 6 fotografies: 150 x 150 cm c/u

“The return to nature has always meant for me a return to the place where I am able to reflect. A reflection that I cannot understand as distanced from culture.” For Francesc Abad, culture and nature are part of the same domain, on both a living and symbolic level. “The gesture to write the word Auschwitz and the fact that the passing of time leads to its disappearance enables me to construct memory.” This memory, in the personal case of the artist, is rooted in the earliest oral stories heard during childhood, beneath a persimmon tree during an English summer camp held at a residence for textile workers in Terrassa. As Abad himself explains: “Later on, this culture of memory, the memory of the losers, would turn into an ethical vocabulary in my artistic work.” Faced with a society that tends towards forgetfulness, this sense of responsibility and collective memory works as an ethical imperative over and against any other aesthetic or formal consideration.

 


Technical details

Original title:
Auschwitz
Registration number:
RT.0014
Artist:
Abad, Francesc
Date created:
1997
Fonds:
MACBA Collection. Barcelona City Council long-term. Gift of Rafael Tous
Object type:
Photograph
Media:
Silver dye-bleach on polyester
Dimensions:
6 fotografies: 150 x 150 cm c/u (height x width)
Edition number:
Ed. 1/2
Credits:
MACBA Collection. Long-term loan of Barcelona City Council. Gift of Rafael Tous
Copyright:
© Francesc Abad, VEGAP, Barcelona
It has accessibility resources:
No

The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.

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