Scars with a touch of gold

Artist, Hélène Gugenheim makes scars sparkle with gold leaf. A few months ago the French artist met a woman. When she had to change clothes for the occassion, Guggenheim notcied that this woman had a huge scar on the spot where first her left breast had been.

This was the start of the project ‘Mes cicatrices, Je suis d’elles, entièrement tissé (my scars, I am completely interwined with them). In a series of photos and video performances the scars of participants had been painted in a subtle manner with gold leaf.

We all bear scars, on our body or invisible to the eye, but showing through our behaviours. They come from appendicitis, broken heart, injustice, mastectomy, accident… (Gugenheim). 

Each scar tells a story of which we are the hero. A scar is the mark of a wound. But it is also the vibrant proof of the healing process, the sign that we have come to terms with a traumatic experience. A wound separates us from our former self and disrupts the course of our life. The healing process enables us to recreate a functional entity – but an entity that is not a return to our previous state, because the wound has changed it forever. The scar is therefore a witness of our reconstruction and the sign of our capacity to adapt, to reinvent ourselves and even mutate. In this respect, we are all gods (Gugenheim). 

Gugenheim was inspired by the principle of Kintsugi, this is a Japanese art form in which broken pottery is glued with a mixture of gold and epoxy in which the fracture will be visible. It makes the original plate or teacup even more beautiful; imperfections become a sign of beauty.

Like the broken ceramics, scars will be a sign of strength and life, rather than a painful memory. Afterwards the gold will be removed and dissolved in a pot of alcohol as a permanent memory of this moment.

 

Source: 
http://helenegugenheim.com/?cat=1
http://www.paradijsvogelsmagazine.nl/kunstenares-laat-littekens-schitteren-met-bladgoud/

 

I want to do something

One thing that hasn’t gone unnoticed for everyone I think,  is the increasing number of refugees who are trying to enter Europe. An infinite number of discussions are going on at the moment and it makes me sad to see that people use Facebook and other social media to post anonymous comments that testify absolute disrespect for refugees. Some newssites disabled the ability to respond to articles about refugees immediately.

Of course I understand the problem that there are too many of them but I think it’s not human to send them out of the country. Especially not if they have nowhere else to go. I mean, If I would be born there and this happened to me, I would also try to leave the country.

But I do believe that we need to be more secure or strict. For instance after haveing once or twice commited a crime or when we find out that they are affiliated with a terroristic movement, we have the ability to expel refugees more quickly.

Luckily there are people that are looking for a solution, both big and small, and I believe every bit can help.

Universal Unconditional 

”Today people move around the world more than ever. Our citizenship defines our status and rights in a foreign country, but it often can bring struggles and limitations in exercising the universal rights we all are entitled to” (Vulpi, S). 

Italian artist Stefania Vulpi realized that we share a lot with each other: Cars (snapcar), household appliances (peerby), apartments (airbnb), but a citizenship of a particular country is not possible to exchange. How nice would it be if you have certain rights that you do not use and that you can temporarily can lend it to someone who can make better use of it?  For example, the right tf education or health care?

In addition to an online window as an art project where you can register your civil rights, Universal Unconditional offers a network of professionals who want to offer a free services. Across Europe, Stefania is seeking for example for doctors, teachers and lawyers.

 

In Limbo Embassy

Asylum seekers who are not allowed to stay in the Netherlands and also can not return to their country of origin, are without a home. Minimum accomodation of asylum seekers (bed, bath, bread) is an issue of discussion in the Netherlands for instance. Initiator, Manon van Hoeckel wants a place for these people – an Embassy – where they can tell their story and can engage in conversation with local residents. Trough development of activities under the flag of freedom of the press (like selling offical state portraits) the ambassadors find loopholes in the law to be able to start working for these refugees.

 

Alexander Popelier