Christian Boltansky "Odessa's ghosts"

I Moscow Biennale of Modern Art
Special project
Curator: Sophie Schmit
Assistant Curator: Ekaterina Iragui
Production: French Embassy in the Russian Federation
AFAA: Action française d’expression artistique
The setup of Chrisitian Boltanski’s exhibition was filmed by director Pavel Lungin

The Ruined Annex
Aptekarski Prikaz
January 27 — February 28, 2005
Starts at 18:00

This first personal exhibition of Chrisitian Boltanski in Moscow, "Odessa's Ghosts" is about the mythical stories relating to the artist's father and his family, who came from Odessa. This is the story of a "dreamt" country; the land of both real and fictional legends.

Among these "Odessa's ghosts", there is Boltankski's grandfather; an opera singer who, after losing his voice, left for Paris. Looking for a job, he was asked to show his work record book, but as he did not have one, he showed his work-worn hands — and was hired on the spot in a local factory. There is also his grandmother, originating from a rich Odessa family. She secretly ran away from her parents to join the man she loved in Paris. He stood there, at the station, waiting for her, but she did not recognize in this thin worker the man she loved in Odessa. The only baggage she brought with her was a samovar. She followed him in his miserable room and married him. Soon though, her husband died of tuberculosis. She stayed alone, in Paris, not speaking French, bringing up her son to become a famous professor of medicine. Christian Boltanski recounts that his grandmother constantly talked about Russia. She would tell him that they would eat melons there all year long. As a child, Boltanski only knew only Russian cuisine. His father kept his children from leaming Russian language, hoping that they would integrate into the foreign society, saying: "You are French, forget it."

However, one day, all the family traveled near Odessa. Boltanski was 13 or 14 then. Not far from Odessa, however, his father turned back. All his family were killed during the war. He no longer had anyone to visit He wanted to preserve his memories. A young lad once even rang at their doorbell and told them: "I am your cousin". He stayed for a few weeks and then left for New York, where he wanted to stage an opera he had written. He never reappeared and they never knew whether he really was a cousin or not.

It is because of all these personal stories that Boltanski is closely related to this mythical country. According to him, every artist belongs to a mythical country, which in his case is Russia. His is an art where life, death and the existence of God are always present. The Jewish tradition is also in the core of his work, tradition according to which one can simultaneously be God's own son and miserable. This is precisely the reason why Boitanski's works are not made of bronze or of marble, but rather of cheap materials such as tinplate; materials that fall into decay by themselves. The artist also uses simple and easily recognizable materials such as coats or photos. To him, everybody is a fragile and unique character whose memories have to be preserved, just like the example of his grandmother: no trace of her existence has left, at the exception of this samovar displayed in the Moscow exhibition or the memory of those who knew her. It is all about "small" individual memory, that is opposed to the "large" collective memory, that of the history books that he also tells throughout his installations. Each of his exhibitions creates a new path made of old pieces combined with new works, which setting is renewed every time.

Boltanski tells thai at the beginning of every work of art, there is a historical or psychoanalytic event, referring to events that have to be told in order to be better understood.

"I was born at the end of World War II: my “hidden” father during the war, the discovery of the Holocaust, my anxiety about my father's desperation, these are all elements that moulded me ... 'Odessa's Ghosts' allows me to celebrate my personal stories — we have to entertain the dead."

Christian Boitanski's solo exhibitions have been organised by the Centre National d'art et de Culture Georges-Pompidou in Paris, the Whitechapel Art Gallery of London, the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Oslo, the New Museum of Contemporary Art of New York, the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum of Eindhoven and the Museum of Modern Art of Paris. He has taken part in numerous international expositions, including Venice Biennale (1972,1980,1986,1993 1995, 2003) and Documenta, Kassel (1972, 1977, 1987).

1 Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Official site

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