When The Pillars Wear Tearness
Remembering the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda 30 years ago
7.4.–4.7.2024
A memorial project by Bele Marx & Gilles Mussard (artistic concept and production) on the initiative of and in cooperation with Ancilla Umubyeyi
genocide in Rwanda. In 1994, around 1 million Tutsi were murdered within 100 days. Among them members of Ancilla’s family. As a survivor, she feels it is her responsibility to inform people about what happened in Rwanda and to warn them, as such events can happen again anywhere, any time. She also wants to restore the victims of the genocide’s dignity that was torn from them at the time. “My greatest wish, however, is that this genocide and its victims are not forgotten and that people learn from the mistakes of the past.” Ancilla Umubyeyi is a counsellor and committee member of Rwanda Diaspora in Austria.
In close cooperation with Ancilla and Rwanda Diaspora in Austria, we are working on a memorial project.
ANALOGUE WORLD
The 3 analogue columns have a very reduced design. They are kept plain in a black light-absorbing colour. More information can be called up using QR codes.
VIRTUAL WORLD / artefacts
The centre of the artwork is a large virtual pillar, the name pillar, which is visible in the digital world. It shows the names of the victims who were given to us by Rwanda Diaspora in Austria. The names are also read aloud and can be heard via headphones. This artefact was created in cooperation with SystemKollektiv and 3D artist Peter Várnai and can be viewed on the Artificial Museum platform (artificialmuseum.com).
The artefact can be accessed from 7 April 2024 with sound via a QR code, so a smartphone with access to mobile data and headphones are required. You will need to bring these yourself. >>> Click here for instructions
Against the background
of the question of commemoration in public space (the pros and cons of a permanent memorial in the culture of remembrance), the Pillars of Memory will visualise, document and name critical aspects and thus initiate a process of debate and stimulate discussion.
This project is the preliminary stage of a remembrance project, the aim of which is to record as many names of the victims as possible over the next five years and to complete the column of names. In addition, the three advertising pillars with their thematic focal points are to be artistically realised as artefacts in virtual space. The commemorative work is to be completed by the 35th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in 2029 and will be presented in Bunker 16, in the Brunnenpassage and in the virtual space for the duration of the project. 
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