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You Know That You Are Human
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Mühlstrasse 8, 96179 Mürsbach, Germany in parallel with Vadim Sidur (1924 – 1986): War and Peace OPENING: 2 April 2023 EXHIBITION: 2 – 30 April 2023 Opening Hours: Monday – Friday / 3 – 6 pm or by appointment Featuring: You Know that You are Human Valentyn Bo, Aleksander Chekmenev, Maryna Frolova, Oleksander Glyadyelov, & Sculptures by Vadim Sidur Organized by: THEgallery & MOMENTUM Curated by: Kateryna Filyuk & Thomas Eller Supported by: Goethe-Institut and Goethe-Institut in Exile, IZOLYATSIA, Ukrainian Institute
Paraska Plytka Horytsvit, Borys Gradov, Alena Grom, Viktor and Sergey Kochetov,
Yulia Krivich, Sasha Kurmaz, Viktor Marushchenko, Sergey Melnitchenko,
Boris Mikhailov with Mykola Ridnyi, Valeriy Miloserdov, Iryna Pap, Evgeniy Pavlov,
Roman Pyatkovka, Natasha Shulte, Synchrodogs, Viktoriia Temnova, Mykola Trokh
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READ HERE THE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
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You know that you are a human.
You know that, or do you not?
That smile of yours is unique to you,
That torment of yours is unique to you,
Your eyes no other person has got.
Tomorrow you won’t be here present.
Tomorrow on this blessed land
Others’ll be running and laughing,
Others’ll be feeling and loving;
Good people and bad ones, my friend.
Today all the world is for you:
Forests and hills, valleys deep.
So hurry to live, please, hurry!
So hurry to love, please, hurry!
Don’t miss out on it, don’t oversleep!
‘Cause you on this Earth are a human.
And whether you want it or not,
That smile of yours is unique to you,
That torment of yours is unique to you,
Your eyes no other person has got.
– Vasyl Symonenko
You Know That You Are Human began as an exhibition of 21 Ukrainian photographers, curated by Kateryna Filyuk, depicting human likeness in a diversity of forms and addressing the role which gender, occupation, geography and heritage play in defining the human position in the world. The conceptual framework of this project was set forward before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and sought to present a panorama of Ukrainian photography from mid-twentieth century until nowadays, with the focus on the human form and being. The title of the show is borrowed from a famous poem by one of the brightest Ukrainian poets of the sixties, Vasyl Symonenko, “Ти знаєш, щоти– людина/ You Know that You are a Human”. Part of the official school curriculum in Ukraine, the poem praises life and the uniqueness of each person, urging everyone to cherish each single moment. Today – during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine – these simple but powerful verses call for humanity, solidarity and cohesion with particular urgency. They remind us once again that despite the elusive monstrosity of war, every life counts. The works of the Ukrainian photographers also provide a crucial insight into the changes that have taken place in Ukrainian society since the 1960s, from the years when the dream of socialism gradually proved to be a failure until this past year of the struggle of the Ukrainians for their country.
You Know That You Are Human was previously presented by MOMENTUM and IZOLYATSIA at the Zionskirche Berlin on 3 December 2022 – 8 January 2023, jointly with Kleiner von Wiese in POINTS of RESISTANCE V. The origin of this exhibition is the show of Ukrainian photography “You Know That You Are Human” curated by Kateryna Filyuk – the winner of the international exhibition support program “Visualise” of the Ukrainian Institute, supported by the Goethe-Institut and the Goethe-Institut in Exile, and produced by MOMENTUM.
In this edition of the exhibition at THE gallery, You Know That You Are Human is presented in parallel to Vadim Sidur | Вадим Сідур (1924 – 1986): War and Peace | Війна і мир. The two parallel exhibitions at THEgallery draw surprising historical links between the small rural community of Mürsbach and the Ukraine. Mürsbach has had a strong connection with the Ukraine, established by one scholar who was born and raised in Mürsbach and lived to become the founder of the philosophy faculty at what was then a new university in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 1804. Johann Baptist Schad introduced ideas of enlightenment and humanism in the Ukraine, inspiring many intellectuals there. Both exhibitions, “You Know that You are Human” and Vadim SIdur “War and Peace”, address the harsh history and human life in the Ukraine in the last century.
In this edition of the exhibition at THE gallery,
You Know That You Are Human is presented in parallel to
Vadim Sidur | Вадим Сідур (1924 – 1986): War and Peace | Війна і мир.
Vadim Abramovich Sidur was a Ukrainian Soviet avant-garde sculptor and artist sometimes referred as the Soviet Henry Moore. Sidur is the creator of a style named Grob-Art (Coffin-Art). Sidur was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine to a Jewish father and Russian mother. One of the most memorable childhood memories was the Holodomor of 1932-1933. Particularly the mass mortality from famine in the villages, cases of cannibalism, and nutrition by surrogates in his autobiographical work “Monument to the Current state”.
He also talks about the work of the Torgsin system. In particular, his mother exchanged a silver spoon for a kilogram of flour. In 1942 he was drafted into the Red Army and fought in World War II. After being wounded in the jaw by a German bullet, he was discharged as a disabled veteran. Since the 1960s Sidur’s works became known in the West. Soon he became famous. In the Soviet Union his works were not exhibited from 1950 until his death, with the exception of the one-day exhibition in the House of Writers in Moscow in 1968.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nettling (1793-1824), Portrait of Johann Baptist Schad, 75 x 119 mm, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Johann Baptist Schad was born in 1758 in Mürsbach, a small village in Upper Franconia. His poor peasant parents sent him to a monastery. Yet instead of blindly following the edicts of the church, Schad became a whistleblower, calling the bluff of monastic life as one of gluttony and deceit. This put him on the inquisition´s list of heretics, and he had to flee the monastery. Arriving in Jena he found a mentor in the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and subsequently became his successor as professor of philosophy in Jena. Schad was an ardent supporter of the French Revolution and the ideas of humanism, freedom and enlightenment, as well as a harsh critic of the Jacobine movement in France. He denounced violence, resentment, deceit and bigotry, and instead became a strong proponent of freedom of speech. In early 1804 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe recommended him to be professor of philosophy in, what was at that time, a newly established university in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where Schad spent the next 12 years teaching and fostering an intellectual climate. There he became the teacher of many scholars, poets, scientists and journalists in the Ukraine.
THE gallery is an institution in Mürsbach in the rural Bamberg region. Two and a half hours by train from Berlin is a water mill in the Itztal, which today generates green electricity for about 100 households. Thomas Eller, the owner of the mill, is a curator and artist. Most recently, he lived in Beijing for six years, where he founded Gallery Weekend Beijing, which brought an international art audience to Beijing with great success. He then spent three years as the founding director of the China Arts & Sciences project in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province.
