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A MINIMALIST SPACE FOR EXPERIENCING THE COMPLEX EMOTION OF GRIEF AND MELANCHOLY
NOVOGRUDOK GHETTO MUSEUM
Тип проекта
Заказчик
Год
Проект
Заказчик
Год
Проект
#ландшафт #архитектура #МАФ
Музей новогрудского гетто
2014-2015
Георгий Заборский (Layers)
Музей новогрудского гетто
2014-2015
Георгий Заборский (Layers)
Формат
проект pro bono (некоммерческий, благотворительный)
PRISONERS ESCAPED FROM THE NOVOGRUDOK GHETTO THROUGH A TUNNEL
232
OBJECTS SYMBOLIZE EACH ESCAPEES
232
YEAR
1943
ESCAPEES JOINED THE PARTISANS
100
METERS OF TUNNEL
250
Upon learning that the project lacked an architectural solution, George made the decision to carry out this project pro bono with the studio's efforts. In Belarus, there is a strong Soviet tradition of representing war tragedies as a collective heroic narrative. George decided that the monument should speak to the value of individual lives and fates, contrasting with the heroic collective narrative of Soviet times
Being Jewish himself and having visited the museum on a private spiritual visit, the founder of Layers, George Zaborski, learned that the museum has plans to create a memorial dedicated to all participants of the legendary and unique escape, both the survivors and those who perished
The Museum of the Novogrudok Ghetto is located on the site of the barracks and courtyard of the former camp, while simultaneously sharing the area with an agricultural technical school and closely bordering private residential plots with log houses
STORY
CONCEPT
THIS VERY IMPORTANT TRADITION OF MY ANCESTORS: AT GRAVES AND KENOTAPHS (THIS IS THE NAME FOR A GRAVE WHERE NO ONE IS BURIED), AT MEMORIAL PLACES WE BRING NOT FLOWERS - BUT STONES. TO MAKE THE EXPERIENCE OF EACH FAMILY INDIVIDUAL, WE MUST CREATE A MONUMENT THAT "COMMUNICATES" WITH THE VISITOR, ACCEPTING BOTH FLOWERS AND STONES
THE THEME OF STONE TRANSFORMS INTO STONES EMERGING FROM THE WALL AND PIERCING THROUGH ITS OPENINGS, EMBODYING THE FATES OF ALL THE SURVIVORS AND THE DECEASED - AND AT THE SAME TIME, BECOMING A PLACE TO PLACE STONES OR FLOWERS, A PERSONAL WAY OF TACTILE AND EMOTIONAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ESCAPEES AND THEIR DESCENDANT FAMILIES
The wall here is an important symbol. On one hand, it is, of course, a formal solution that allows us to link the monument with the established Belarusian tradition of memorials to the tragedies of World War II - such a connection was absolutely necessary for the project's realization. But on the other hand, it is a reference to one of the central symbols of modern Jewish culture - the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem
FLOW
[ FROM THE FOUNDER'S INTERVIEW ]
IT WAS MY PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION, MY AND THE STUDIO'S STONE. IT WAS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN THE EFFECT OF WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY, COLLECTIVITY - SO, THE FAMILIES GATHERED AND THE PLAQUES WERE TRANSLATED AND MADE BY VOLUNTEERS... AND MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR ME, I SEE HOW THE MEMORIAL WORKS, I SEE HOW PEOPLE COME AND PLACE STONES - AND SOMEONE PLACES FLOWERS..
FOUNDER'S INSTAGRAM
“FOR ME, THIS WAS AN IMPORTANT, STRUCTURE-DEFINING EXPERIENCE, AND WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS PROJECT ARISED, I DEFINITELY TOOK IT ON AS A PRO BONO TASK”
GEORGE ZABORSKI
[ FOUNDER IN THE PROJECT PITCHING]
INSTEAD, IT SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE OF LIVING THROUGH AND ACCEPTING GRIEF AND/OR THE INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE OF JOY AND GRATITUDE TO ANCESTORS WHO ESCAPED IN THE COURSE OF A RISKY ESCAPE, AND IT SHOULD BECOME A PERSONAL MEDIUM, WHILE STILL BEING PART OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY
FOUNDER'S INSTAGRAM
“MAIN POINT: THE HOLOCAUST MONUMENT MUST STAND IN OPPOSITION TO ANY AUTHORITARIAN TRADITION, ANY MASS WORSHIP”
GEORGE ZABORSKI
HISTORY OF ESCAPE
[ FOUNDER IN THE PROJECT PITCHING]
"IN ONE WORD, A LOT OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT AND OUTRIGHT KITSCH. WE NEEDED TO FIND AN IMAGE THAT WAS SO ABSTRACT, GEOMETRIC, AND SELF-CONTAINED THAT IT WOULDN’T AMPLIFY THE CHAOS AROUND IT BUT WOULD EXIST SEPARATELY AND CLOSED OFF WITHIN IT. THE CHALLENGE WAS TO MAINTAIN A BALANCE BETWEEN A COMPREHENSIBLE NARRATIVE AND A MINIMALIST, SIMPLE FORM — AN ABSTRACTION
FOUNDER'S INSTAGRAM
“WHY SUCH A SPARTAN AND BRUTAL IMAGE AT ALL? AN IMPORTANT CONDITION WAS THAT THE FORMER GHETTO SITE NOW HOUSES A COLLEGE AND PRIVATE HOMES”
GEORGE ZABORSKI
[ FOUNDER IN THE PROJECT PITCHING]
IT WAS NECESSARY TO DECIDE: SHOULD WE BUILD AN IMITATION? IT SEEMS THAT THE HOLOCAUST THEME CANNOT TOLERATE FALSEHOOD – THAT'S WHY, IN THE NARRATIVE UNFOLDED IN THE CONCRETE WALL OF THE MONUMENT, WE INCLUDED A REPRODUCTION OF FRAGILE DIY SHORINGS IN THE CONCRETE, AND THE ACTUAL DIRECTION OF THE TUNNEL IS INDICATED BY A MINIMALIST LINE MADE OF LOCAL STONE
FOUNDER'S INSTAGRAM
THE TUNNEL THROUGH WHICH THE ESCAPE TOOK PLACE WAS REINFORCED WITH WOODEN SHORINGS MADE OF ROUGH TIMBER AND IS NOW LOST
GEORGE ZABORSKI
TRACES OF USAGE
[ FOUNDER IN THE PROJECT PITCHING]
THIS IS THE MAIN DISTINCTION OF THE MONUMENT FROM ITS ANALOGS: THIS GHETTO IS FAMOUS PRIMARILY FOR THE SUCCESSFUL ESCAPE, AND THE NARRATIVE OF THE MONUMENT MUST ENGAGE NOT ONLY WITH THOSE WHO TRAGICALLY PERISHED, BUT ALSO WITH THOSE WHO TRAGICALLY SURVIVED – THIS WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ISRAELI AND BELARUSIAN FAMILIES. THIS IS HOW THE IMAGES OF THE 'STONE' AND 'DOOR' CAME INTO BEING
FOUNDER'S INSTAGRAM
“THE WALL IS BOTH A KEY SYMBOL FOR JEWISH RELIGIOUS TRADITION AND A SYMBOL OF THE GHETTO, AS WELL AS A REFERENCE TO THE SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE BELSKY GROUP'S ESCAPE”
GEORGE ZABORSKI
WIKIPEDIA
USE A MINIMALIST STONE LINE, INDICATING THE LOCATION OF THE TUNNEL, TO ILLUMINATE THE ARTICLE ABOUT THE GHETTO
ALL LANGUAGE SECTIONS
TUNNEL OF HOPE
THE STORY OF THE ESCAPE FROM THE NOVOGRUDOK GHETTO USES A PHOTO OF THE MEMORIAL WALL AS THE COVER IMAGE
BETTY BRODSKI / COHEN BOOK
Jerusalem post
ISRAELI NEWSPAPER
REGULARLY USES THE INTENSE STATE COMMUNICATED BY THE MONUMENT FOR PUBLICATIONS ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST IN EASTERN EUROPE
WHAT IS SAID ABOUT THE PROJECT AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY AND THE MEDIA?
REVIEWS
