Sabina Kaluza. Art and (post)memory

SACRUM VS. REVOLT
 

As a woman and an artist, Sabina Kaluza carries within her not only the memory of her oppressive, strict Catholic upbringing, in which anything that related to the female body and female sexuality was considered to be sinful and an expression of animal temptation, but also the consequences of growing up in an androcentric society, which glorified only the superficial beauty of young women. In order to release her own memory from these patriarchal patterns, the artist does not limit herself to only conjuring up dancing figures and a mild form of revolution through dance, but also recites the Lord’s Prayer with the full involvement of her naked body. In the 15-part group of photographs entitled “PATER NOSTER” (Figs. 21 . , 22.1–15 . ), she translates the words of the famous prayer into sign language, producing each sign in such a way that her own naked body is displayed in the most clearly visible way possible. In Kaluza’s photographs, everything that Catholicism attempts to suppress at all costs and in the most puritanical way possible returns with huge force and becomes a feminist manifesto. 

Through her approach – her ongoing conflict with Catholicism – Kaluza uses her art to combine rebellion against the dogmas of the Catholic faith with questions of transcendence. With this in mind, “OHNE TITEL” (“UNTITLED”) from 2003 (Fig. 23 . ) can be regarded as a type of signature. In it, we see the artist’s handprints, which she created with her own menstrual blood. It is a type of vera ikon – the trace of a presence that is without doubt physical, yet also deeply imbued with spirituality. 

HISTORY AND IDENTITY
 

In “ein-hacken” (“pecking in”) from 2005, the artist recently added two female figures: Mary Magdalene and Maya (Figs. 24 . , 18 . ). She describes this concept as follows: “These figures are a part of my creative process over the course of many years, in which I repeatedly returned to questions of spirituality, remembrance and identity. I can feel a strong need to explore questions surrounding transcendence and the state of humanity in the context of global history. When I look back on my life, I realise that these themes never left me, but rather developed further alongside me; that ultimately, they have become the core of my creative work. My goal is to find traces of the past in the present and to give them new forms. Mary Magdalene and Maya symbolise the journey, the search, the silent witness. Both unite spiritual and personal planes, which are closely interwoven with my own experience and my thoughts.” (Email to the author, 1/4/2025; English rendition of the German translation).

EMBODIED MEMORY – ART AS A MEDIUM OF POSTMEMORY
 

The German-Polish concept artist Sabina Kaluza is therefore dedicated on the one hand to her own, individual memory, in which the fact of being a woman, emancipation and feminism play important roles. On the other hand, however, she also focuses on postmemory by exploring questions anchored in the traumatic microhistory of her family against the backdrop of the macrohistory of the Second World War. She lives and works in times of constant change, as is expressed in one of her latest works, “die WELT steht KOPF” (“the WORLD is UPSIDE DOWN”) (Fig. 25 . ). Here, she draws on different media, focusing mainly on photography, but also using installation and film. The materials that she chooses – rusty metal, jute, a lens – are symbolic and make a deep impression on our senses. This is reflected, for example, in the group exhibition “WAR und ist KRIEG” (“There WAS and is WAR”), on the premises of the Lower Saxony federal state representation in Berlin in the spring of 2025, which included “JEDEM DAS SEINE, LEO!” and “D-DAY HEERESGRUPPE MIT FRANZ” (Fig. 26 . ). The language of art used by Sabina Kaluza is a deeply sensual one. This arises from the nature of (post)memory, which exists not only in image form, but is frequently also expressed to a high degree in the body. 

Marta Smolińska, June 2025