Vesna Bukovec

Secret Heart / Skrivnostno srce

Exhibition: Secret Heart / Skrivnostno srce, solo exhibition by KOLEKTIVA (Vesna Bukovec, Metka Zupanič)
Location: Črni kot, Kosovelov dom Sežana, SI
Date: January 15 – February 28, 2014
Opening: January 15 2014 at 6 pm

Curator: Mojca Grmek

About the project

The project was made in 2010 when KOLKETIVA was invited to create a new edition of the Special Place in the City project in Warsaw. Special Place in the City is an ongoing project by KOLEKTIVA (Vesna Bukovec, Metka Zupanič, Lada Cerar) which comprises elements of sociological research about specific places with intimate values to the inhabitants of various cities. The initial project evolved over the years and become a platform for larger amount of individual projects concerning people, stories and places (more info).

The idea for the Warsaw project Secret Heart was inspired by an article Searching for Chopin, Finding Poland’s Past by Michael Kikmmelman published in New York Times on October 3, 2009. We learned that preserved Chopin’s heart is placed in a church in Warsaw. We think the fact that it stayed preserved even when everything around it was destroyed in the WWII is a great example and a symbol of survival and resistance. The absurd situation that a German general helped to save a national symbol of the very nation they wanted to destroy brings in an interesting twist. Since the heart’s whereabouts during the hiding are not known we find this secret place of hiding an actual special place of the city of Warsaw. KOLEKTIVA published international open call for a short story. By inviting people to write a story about the hiding place of the heart we were actually asking them for fiction stories about the course of events during the hiding of a heart which might be or might be not intertwined with real facts. In writing the story about the heart we see an opportunity for people to express their opinion and emotions in regards to the painful time of Warsaw Uprising and the WWII which has had a strong impact on the city and national identity.

More about the Secret Heart project

Invitation card (pdf) (Slovene only)

www.kosovelovdom.si

www.kolektiva.org

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Photos from the opening