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collection dichter |
the collection history VR documentation artists pillars of memory |
8. mach – 25. may 2008
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eva brunner-szabo | richard schütz | roland schütz
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pictures of the opening | edith arlen walter arlen ernest dichter |
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the genesis of the project on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the annexation of austria in march 2008, verein grundstein’s inquiry into the history of the jewish dichter family culminated in the placement of three advertising pillars on yppenplatz in vienna’s ottakring district, showcasing relevant works by various artists. the project, “committed to the memory of all victims of national socialism”, is continued to this day. säulen der erinnerung – pillars of memory: an encounter of art and contemporary history in the public space “our task is to reconstruct the past, and to render the future possible.” jean-luc godard in a sense, public space with its monuments and memorials is the spatial zone of the non-private, the counterpart of individual memory. while public space may be understood as a medium for collective remembrance, with memorials serving to keep the memory and the awareness of a common history alive, the individual memory is the area in which the history of individual experience is stored. referring to and evoking individual memories within the public space therefore constitutes a formal provocation, no matter what the content. the art project “säulen der erinnerung – pillars of memory” does not aim for a superficial reminder, commemoration or provocation, but intends to trigger a process in which public space becomes a medium for a confrontation with history. this is achieved by renaming yppenplatz to “edith arlen wachtel and walter arlen piazza”, as well as by the presentation of art on and artistic design of the pillars. as representatives of all victims of national socialism, the art project “säulen der erinnerung – pillars of memory” focuses on two jewish émigrés from ottakring, edith arlen wachtel and walter arlen, both grandchildren of the founder of the dichter emporium (brunnengasse 40, today’s “dichterhof”) and, as living images of memory, takes them back to the place where they spent their childhood and youth. since 2005, verein grundstein has been researching and studying the history of the dichter family and its emporium, which was owned by the family until 1938. as a homage to the family who were exiled from vienna, the “sammlung dichter” (dichter collection) was initiated in 2006. during the exhibition “dichter herbst” (dichter autumn) in october 2007, edith arlen wachtel and walter arlen visited vienna, and many of the participating artists developed a strong bond with them. “up to seventh grade, i went to the oberlyzeum for girls in albertgasse. after hitler’s invasion of austria, i was expelled from school; i should have moved on to the bürger‑schule for the remaining jewish children; but our mother’s health was very poor, and she needed help at all times. my father was arrested right away; he was in prison. so i never went back to school.” von links nach rechts: edith arlen (geb. aptowitzer),
leopold dichter, walter arlen (geb. aptowitzer), im vordergrund: peter silberstein; sauerbrunn, ca. 1935 |
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“i wrote songs; some of them were even performed in public. later, i submitted songs for a competition, and i won the first prize. the prize was practice lessons with roy harris, who was the most famous composer in america at the time (…). i stayed with him for four years, those were my most productive years because i met everybody who was anybody in american music: conductors like toscanini and kussewitzky … harris was in touch with all these people. he travelled a lot, and i was with him all the time. i drove to new york in his car, across the entire country. he always had appointments, meetings, that is how i met those people. his house was a meeting place for musicians. and in summer, he always organised festivals.” stehend von links nach rechts: walter arlen, dirigent roger wagner, der österreichisch-amerikanische komponist ernst kanitz, der amerikanische komponist john vincent sitzend von links nach rechts: der filmkomponist miklos rosza, die klaviervirtuosin lilian steuber, der brasilianische komponist heitor villa-lobos, die mezzosopranistin nan merriman, die sopranistin vera jean vary; im haus von mina coe, pacific palisades, 1957
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mit
unterstützung von: ottakringer kulturfreunde
nationalfonds
der republik österreich wien
kultur bezirk
ottakring Falter
cyberlab.at
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