Installation – 2024
HD Video with sound (3 min), light projection (5 min), 9 sketches (Pen and ink on Paper, 14.85 x 21cm each)
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‘A Cup of Wine’ is an artistic interpretation of a text written by Oana Dumbrava, a writer from Romania who lives in Switzerland. The text reflects upon her experiences of migration, falling in love and the impact of both of these on her life as a migrant, who tries to make sense of her situation.
The installation features a video of Oana singing a serene love song about loss. The video fades away into a light projection comprising of the colors of a rainbow. However, only one color is projected at a time, fading slowly into the next, each lasting for about a minute. The rainbow thus cannot be seen in its totality and remains elusive. Nine sketches (pen and ink on paper) are arranged, starting from the projection area and spreading beyond it on the wall. Each sketch is suggestive of a tiny part of a larger narrative.
The installation offers a serene and pleasant viewing from a distance. However, a closer look at the sketches reveals a faceless figure and rough (almost violent) strokes of pen. It leads a viewer to reflect upon the structural violence associated with migration. The figures appear lonely, and disconnected with the surrounding, as if almost invisible or in need to finding their self again.
The work was produced under the project ‘Found in Translation‘ by ExpoTranskultur, a Zurich based organisation that works on migration.
Installed at:
Verbinden (Connection), Helmhaus, Zurich – 2024
