By Morag Colquhoun, Artes Mundi Live Guide
The artist that seems to be getting people talking the most this week is Israeli artist Yael Bartana.
In her video Mary Koszmary (which means 'Nightmare' in Polish), a young man makes a speech in the centre of a deserted stadium in Warsaw. Addressing his words to weed infested terraces, he calls for Jews to return to Poland - the country where so many Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust.
This is part of the artist's 'Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland' ...
What are we to make of it? Is it a spoof? Is it deadly serious?
In another video set in a Polish park, vigorous young men and women build the first physical manifestation of 'the movement': a watch tower surrounded by a wall. Does this video bring to mind the creation of Israeli Kibbutz? The idealism of socialism? Some viewers have also been reminded of concentration camps.
Yael Bartana
Mur i Wieża (Wall and Tower) - 2009
One channel RED transfer to 35mm film Duration: 16 min.
Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam
Some strong reactions to this work have come from viewers who have had direct experiences that they could relate to the work.
One young man had met many Israelis while travelling around the world. He told me that he hated 'Zionism'. At the same time, he was unsettled by the work as it seemed to propose a forced solution to the problems and conflict that surround the state of Israel.
Another viewer had been present during the establishment of the state of Israel, as part of the occupying British Army force. He had supported the foundation of Israel but only on condition that the Palestinian people received equal treatment, an equality he felt they had not yet received. When I spoke to him he had not yet seen Yael Bartana's other video work, 'A Declaration', in which a young man replaces the Israeli flag with an olive tree ... perhaps his sentiments found an echo in that work.
These conversations bring to mind a conversation that I had with another Artes Mundi artist, Adrian Paci, in which he stressed the importance of viewers' own responses.
There is no right or wrong way to view any of the Artes Mundi art works I feel but hopefully lots of interesting responses and conversations to come ...
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