Common Grave((
C(Common Grave)(Common Grave)
Günter Schwaiger and Tom Lavin
12.16.05 to 01.28.06
12.16.05 to 01.28.06
El Ojo Atómico, Antimuseo de Arte Contemporáneo
08.15.06 to 09.01.06
Centro Cultural Español
Calle Guatemala 18, Centro histórico, México city.
09.23.06 to 10.01.06
ARGEKultur Salzburg,
Josef-Preis-Allee 16, A-5020 Salzburg
Ojo Atómico proudly presents Fosa Común (Common Grave), a project by Tom Lavin
and Günter Schwaiger on the subject of missing persons from the Franco regime.
Schwaiger and Lavin offer multimedia works that refuse to succumb to the silencing caused by political repression and states of terror and catalog the current resurgence of corpses in Spain.
To date in Spain 70 graves have been discovered and 571 corpses exhumed, but this is just the tip of the iceberg as the exact quantity of graves is incalculable and the number of missing could exceed 100,000.
The fascist coup-d’état led by General Francisco Franco in 1936 against the Spanish Republic found an unexpected popular resistance that triggered a long and cruel civil war. Its military campaign was complemented with the extermination of any possible opponent. The Guardia Civil, Spanish Armed Forces, the Falange party and civilians in support of the coup
collaborated in mass executions which lack records of the extent of this operation.
2006 marks 70 years since this initial event and the Spanish government has yet to recognize
the existence of executions performed outside of the judicial system though evidence that
hundreds of unmarked graves exist throughout the country is unquestionable.
For Fosa Común, Günter Schwaiger screens the film Santa Cruz, por ejemplo… The
documentary records the work of a team of forensic archeologist who slowly extract human
bones in Santa Cruz, Burgos while family members of the victims ready themselves to take the remains to the local cemetery. Despite the fact that in Spain the presence and authorization of a judge is necessary to move human remains, the absence of any such person is proven in the film. The documentary’s interviews with local authorities and members of the community project a sharp image of the tension that this subject still evokes.
Tom Lavin uses earth collected from the Santa Cruz grave to draw a map of Spain and locates it on the gallery floor. Forcing audiences to travel over it to view an exhibition that highlights deleted and false information linked with a human drama. The action of stepping over the map causes its disappearance and metaphorically comments on Spanish historical memory.
In addition, informational panels offering historical data, statistics on the missing, and visuals of grave sites and the objects found in them allow audiences come to understand the extent of this tragedy. Contributing the first topographical map of unmarked graves in Spain with
supporting material provided by the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory
(ARMH) this data has great value as a historical document.Sponsor:
Contributor:
Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria HistóricaThankfulness:
Luis Gonzalo Martínez, Natasha García Lomas, ediciones despacio mobcoop ediciones, Ángel Sáenz; Martin Eller, y a los socios y simpatizantes de la ARMH que han ofrecido sus testimonios.
Photographs, Centro Cultural de España en México: Theda Acha