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Photographic exhibition

Covid: Images of a New Reality

from 13. Aug to 13. Sep 2020, from 9:00 to 22:00, Castle park, Ljubljana Castle

It is different with coronavirus than with Tito’s death. None of us fail to recall exactly where we were when we first heard about the invisible thing sneaking among us and turning the world as we know it upside down.

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs,” said the late American photographer Ansel Adams. The exhibition Covid: Images of a New Reality documents the time when a small, crown-like organism forced us to exchange embraces for masks, kisses for disinfectants, socialising with classmates for staring at screens, relaxed picnics for solitary walks and a long, hot summer for worried glancing towards the autumn, towards the consequences that are inevitably approaching.

How do you describe the anxiety that overwhelmed us at the beginning, when Covid-19 ravaged neighbouring Italy while we, imprisoned in our municipal borders, wondered if we might be guilty of some crime for walking in the woods? How do you talk about the distress of grandparents who were not allowed to hug their grandchildren? How do you show the anxiety of an artist who finds himself or herself in a brave new world without a stage and an audience? How do you articulate the terrible feelings of people in nursing homes when the world seems to have completely forgotten about you?
Photographers from the newspapers Delo and Slovenske novice have captured that which cannot be put into words. In images documenting the period from the beginning of March, when the first state borders closed, to the gradual return to life, Matej Družnik, Jure Eržen, Marko Feist, Uroš Hočevar, Dejan Javornik, Blaž Samec, Jože Suhadolnik, Leon Vidic and Voranc Vogel have placed a mirror before the new normality.

In a different context, Voranc Vogel’s photograph of Ljubljana with its radiant lights would have a romantic effect, but now it evokes a feeling of being trapped. The image of Vlado Kreslin, caught on his home balcony by Matej Družnik, could be merely an excellent portrait of a singer, but here and now it is like a voice howling to a desert sky, crying out for the good old days. Images of the empty capital remind us how much we miss carefree socialising, and photographs of the homeless evoke gratitude that we have a place to stay – at home.

Here, too, are all those who, through their work, made it possible for our lives to run at least approximately smoothly during the worst of times, with self-sacrificing medical staff at the forefront. Pupils who experienced school without friends remind us of weeks that we do not want to experience again, while a government minister in front of a pile of protective equipment, whistleblower Ivan Gale and protesters in the streets remind us that the pandemic will have a long tail and numerous consequences.

The exhibition nonetheless concludes optimistically. The last photograph shows the most important incidental thing in the world, demonstrating that the world will not come to an end yet. Or, to borrow the words of philosopher Alenka Zupančič: “The world will certainly end, but this will not necessarily be the end of our problems.”

Agata Rakovec Kurent, editor of Nedelo

 

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Tickets

Free admission