From the Sunniest Day to the Darkest Night - Zak | Branicka

From the Sunniest Day to the Darkest Night

Maja Bajević | Adrian Paci | Igor Grubić | Hubert Czerepokcurated by Agata Rogoś

“Whosoever spends sleepless moments in a bed in Sarajevo mighthear the voices of the Sarajevo night. Hard and firmly strikesthe bell at two o’clock in the morning in the Catholic Church.More than one minute passed (exactly seventy-five seconds—Icounted) and only then was did I hear the slightly weaker, shrillsound of the Orthodox Church clock, also striking two o’clock inthe morning. A moment later the sa-hat-kula spoke in a hoarse,subdued voice from the Bej Mosque, striking the eleventh hour—the ghostly Turkish hour, the strange timekeeping of distantforeign countries. The Jews have no clock, only the heavensknow what time it is—whether according to Sephardic custom,or according to Ashkenazi. When all around is still and quiet, thedifference separating men equalized by sleep is in the calculationof this hollow phase of the night. When they awake, they will behappy and sad, feast and fast by four different feuding calendars,and all their requests and prayers will be sent to heaven in one offour liturgical languages. The difference is sometimes visible andopen, sometimes hidden and treacherous, but it always resembleshatred—this difference is often hatred itself.”With these words the Bosnian writer and Nobel Prize winner IvoAndrić described Sarajevo—a town where four religions meet—inhis short story entitled A Letter from 1920. Such places never knowpeace, as the confrontation between various visions of the worldmore often serve to emphasize differences, and not similarities.Meanwhile, political correctness notwithstanding, the idea ofmulticulturalism, so deeply rooted in European philosophy, willalways remain a pious desire. This exhibition focuses on the tiesbetween power, violence, and religion, and draws upon differenceas a source of conflict: “The difference is sometimes visible andopen, sometimes hidden and treacherous, but it always resembleshatred—this difference is often hatred itself.”Is it possible, then, that in such places paradise and hell, day andnight, and the sacred and the profane live under the same roof?If so, small wonder that the Iranian film director and poet AbbasKiarostami wrote the following on the relationship between goodand evil, and beauty and violence: “I have safely journeyed athousand times from the sunniest day to the darkest night.“ Thetitle of the exhibition derives from this quote.

Maja BajevićBorn in 1967 in Sarajevo, former Yugoslavia, becameFrench in November 2003. Lives and works in Paris, France.Double–Bubble, 2001, single channel video, projection, 3.60 min

Adrian Paci’s film (PilgrIMAGE, 2005) draws from the 15th-centuryhistory of the magical “transfer” of a painting—a relic of the Motherof God from Albania’s Shkodër (the largest enclave of Catholicism inAlbania) to the Italian town of Genazzano. Paci has decided to reversethe course of history and restore the lost picture to the Albanians.He organized a public projection of the picture in Shkodër, whilesimultaneously projecting a film of Shkodër’s praying inhabitants inthe church in Genazzano. In this way he literally transfers the sacredspace to the sphere of the profane, and vice versa.

Igor GrubicBorn in 1969 in Zagreb, Croatia.Lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia.Angels with Dirty Faces, 2006, Inkjet on archival paper, 120 x 80 cm

The miner’s protest in Kolubara as wellas the civil protests in Belgradethat culminated in the burningof the National Assemblyof the Republic of Serbiaon 5 October 2000, led to the fallof Milosevic’s regime in Yugoslavia.Angels with Dirty Faces, 2006, video, 17:30 min

Angels with Dirty Faces, 2006, Inkjet on archival paper, 50 x 70 cm

Hubert CzerepokBorn 1973 in Slubice, Poland.Lives and works in Wrocław, Poland.Salvation Islands, 2009, object, 3 piles of books, gun bullets, approx. 50 x 35 x 35 cm each

Hubert Czerepok’s work (Salvation Islands, installation, 2009) consistsof three bullet-riddled piles of holy books: the Bible, Koran and Tanakh.This work concerns issues tied to the politicization of the sphere ofthe sacred: here the bullets falls—literally and figuratively—betweenthe pages of history. The artist alludes to stories of cases where holybooks hidden in the pocket of a uniform have saved soldiers frombeing shot. As such, religion is both a source of violence and a formof protection from evil.

Exhibition at ŻAK | BRANICKA BerlinFROM THE SUNNIEST DAY TO THE DARKEST NIGHTJune 22, 2012 – September 01, 2012Credits:All images of the work Double-Bubble by Maja Bajević:Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, ZurichWe would like to thank:The artists, Galerie Peter Kilchmann (Annemarie Reichen)and Agata RogośAl images of the work PilgrIMAGE by Adrian Paci:Courtesy the artist, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, repetto &kaufmann, MilanoAll images of the work Angels with Dirty Faces by Igor Grubić:Courtesy the artistAll images of the work Salvation Islands by Hubert Czerepok:Courtesy the artist and ŻAK | BRANICKAFront cover:Maja Bajević, Double–Bubble, 2001, single channel video, projection, 3.60 minBack cover:Igor Grubić, Angels with Dirty Faces, 2006, inkjet on archival paper, 50 x 70 cmLindenstr. 35, 10969 Berlin | +49 30 61107375 | www.zak-branicka.com | mail@zak-branicka.com