Artist Bruce Clarke (FR) of Litvak origin created a two-part exhibition at Kaunas Ninth Fort Museum, which consists of the mural artwork “When we were Trees,” created for the inner courtyard of the museum, and the installation of sculptural objects “Survivors in Suspension,” exhibited inside the museum.

Having raised the question of how art can treat the subject of the Holocaust and honour the victims murdered at the Ninth Fort, Clarke chooses metaphor in his work “When we were Trees.” Using the symbolism of trees and fire, as well as the excerpts from archive sources, the artist conveys painful historical events and reveals the extraordinary resilience of a person in a desperate situation.

The installation “Survivors in Suspension” talks about the “in-between” existence of those who have survived traumatic and inhumane experiences.

Clarke’s exhibition “Those who Stayed” became a part of the performance “The Wreckage of my Flesh.” It was prepared by dancer and choreographer Tebby W. T. Ramasike (NL) together with an international team. The sensitive performance combined the avant-garde current of Japanese dance butoh, elements of ritual, electronic music and visual art. The synthesis of these elements helped to express human experiences in the whirlwind of dramatic events and resistance to the terror of a brutal regime. Excerpts from the performance can be viewed at the display of the sculptural objects “Survivors in Suspension.” Choreographer & performer Tebby W. T. Ramasike. Artistic team: composers René Baptist Huysmans and Jacob Elkin, Butoh performer Elizabeth Damour, light designer Ellen Knops, costume designer Anne Oomen, videographer Zo Fan.

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The exhibition was created as a part of the international project “ECCE HOMO: Those who Stayed | Those who Left.” It is an interdisciplinary project of the European capitals of culture, Kaunas and Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg), symbolically connecting the cities located in different areas on the topic of painful historical memory. The artists participating in the project, Bruce Clarke and Tebby W. T. Ramasike, presented their work both in Kaunas and in Esch-sur -Alzette (at the National Museum of Resistance and Human Rights), which focuses on history in today’s context.

The project “ECCE HOMO: Those who Stayed” is a part of Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 programme.

The project is implemented by Kaunas Ninth Fort Museum and Kaunas 2022
Information partners: LRT, “Kauno diena“, KB “Katos grupė“ | ACM
Partners: National Museum of Resistance and Human Rights (Luxembourg), Esch 2022, Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Informatics