Program
KAF
November 23, 2024 – March 2, 2025
The performance Measuring Narrative With Water approaches language as a measuring tool, examining how well it captures what we aim to convey.
- Performance by and with Sirah Foighel Brutmann and Eitan Efrat
- February 27, 2025, 7:00 PM
Admission included in the gallery ticket price: 35 PLN regular | 25 PLN reduced
In the 1920s, Knud Heckscher, the great-grandfather of Sirah Foighel Brutmann, documented his water journey from Copenhagen to Bangkok and back. The artist delves into the legacy inherited from the Danish side of her family, which includes 107 letters written by Knud between 1920 and 1922, along with an extensive collection of photographs taken during his travels. Together with Eitan Efrat, Foighel Brutmann transforms these materials into an audiovisual experience.
Knud’s letters, filled with witty descriptions, recount his experiences, exposing both the colonial white man’s fear of the unknown and the threats posed by antisemitism. Foighel Brutmann interprets fragments of these stories, employing various languages and accents while incorporating contemporary footage. This blurs the boundaries of time, making it impossible to discern a clear chronology.
The projections on the screen combine texts, black-and-white photographs by Heckscher from Bangkok, and colorful footage of water phenomena. These elements prompt reflection: what fluids flow through us and shape our identity? What responsibility do we bear for the histories we inherit?
Sirah Foighel Brutmann, courtesy of the artist and the artists
Images: video capture by Sirah Foighel Brutmann and Eitan Efrat
Images: video capture by Sirah Foighel Brutmann and Eitan Efrat
Eitan Efrat, courtesy of the artist and the artists
Images: video capture by Sirah Foighel Brutmann and Eitan Efrat
Archival materials, along with a bronze statue cast by Knud Heckscher (created by an unknown artist), serve as tools to bridge the past with the present. The memory of minority experiences is passed down, much like the enigmatic sculpture that has been handed down through generations in the artist’s family. Some aspects remain undiscovered, some are reinterpreted, and others endure as lasting symbols of transformation.
Electronic effects and acoustic sounds, created live by Eitan Efrat, emphasize the physical dimension of the languages used by the artist. The performance explores key themes central to the duo’s practice: the materiality and temporality of images, the relationship between the viewer and history, and collective memory.
As Knud leaves Scandinavia and travels South-East through colonised territories, he adopts colonial language and behaviour, and once he arrives in Bangkok he positions himself in a position of superiority of both class and race. During his time in Bangkok he was also exposed to anti-semitism that the white people imported from Europe. This piece is part of a process of trying to stay accountable to the material that I inherited but also to our shared histories. – Sirah Foighel Brutmann
