May
Babi Yar Requiem Auction
Posted under Art, |
Babi Yar is the name of a ravine in the northwestern section of Kiev.
It was here that the Nazis shot the Jews. In small groups of ten, the Jews were taken along the edge of the ravine.
Once the Jews were lined up, the Nazis used a machine-gun to shoot them. When shot, they fell into the ravine. Then the next were brought along the edge and shot. According to the Einsatzgruppe Operational Situation Report No. 101, 33,771 Jews were killed at Babi Yar on September 29 and 30.
But this was not the end of the killing at Babi Yar. The Nazis next rounded up Gypsies and killed them at Babi Yar. Patients of the Pavlov Psychiatric Hospital were gassed and then dumped into the ravine. Soviet prisoners of war were brought to the ravine and shot. Thousands of other civilians were killed at Babi Yar for trivial reasons, such as a mass shooting in retaliation for just one or two people breaking a Nazi order. The killing continued for months at Babi Yar. It is estimated that possibly up to 100,000 people were murdered there.
The Babi Yar massacre is considered to be "the largest single massacre in the history of the Holocaust"
Most memorials are designed for reflection upon a moment in history. They allow us to reflect upon things in a distanced, aesthetic way. We stand apart, saddened by the event but reassured by the fact that it is over. We remember those lost by standing briefly outside their monument and then moving on. It is sad and it is commemorative. But we are allowed to stay outside, allowed to be comfortable, allowed to be safe.
Requiem takes us physically into the pit and encloses us in its reality. We are part of the people who died there. The images surround us, enclosing us. The experience is seared into our visual, aural and spatial memory.
In order for change to happen in the world, we have to be made aware that it could be us. We have to be brought to our knees with that possibility. The point of Requiem is that it is still happening. Babi Yar should not be a single event nicely memorialized and tucked away. It can become a representation of all the horrors we humans have brought - and are still bringing - upon each other. Terrorism and genocide are as real today as they were in 1941.
There will be an auction held to raise funds for this monument to see a preview of the benefit art auction that will be held in June (08)
http://www.babiyarrequiem.com/Babi_pages/art_preview.htm
Purchase a Cast Section of the Original Bas Relief Maquette
All proceeds go directly to the first year of production.
Not only will you be contributing
to the making of the most powerful
Monument to Babi Yar and the Holocaust, you will own a cast of the original
1/4 scale sculpture.
This beautiful piece of art
is a high-bas relief cast in
Stone and mounted in a
black powder-coated welded metal frame.
Engraved at the bottom of the frame is
"In Memory of Those Lost in Babi Yar- 1941"
21" x 27" x 3" cost $1000 USD
Every penny of this contribution goes to the first year of the making of this Extraordinarily Powerful Monument
http://www.babiyarrequiem.com/Babi_pages/maquette_for_sale.htm
