Sabina Kaluza. Art and (post)memory
Mediathek Sorted
Video 1/3: maske (2005)
Video 2/3: reduktion (2005)
Video 3/3: gegen die zeit (2005)
Documentary film “PIERWSZY DZIEŃ” (2014)
Documentary film “DER ERSTE TAG” (2014)
“Atelier digital #16” visits artist Sabina Kaluza
The artist on her life:
INTRODUCTION – ARTISTIC AND PERSONAL IDENTITY
“The story of my life begins where two cultures, two languages and two identities meet. I was born in Bytom, in Upper Silesia, in 1967, into a family in which German and Polish fates were closely intertwined. My mother was German, my father was Polish, and among our forefathers, there was both a Wehrmacht soldier and a Polish resistance fighter.
This complex past had a significant impact on my sensitivity and my way of looking at the world. I grew up in communist Poland and experienced at first hand the meaning of control, a deficit of goods and martial law. This made me even more aware of how history impacts our identity. In my search for freedom and my own path, my husband and I decided to flee to West Germany in 1987.”
HISTORY COMES FULL CIRCLE – FRIEDLAND AS SYMBOL“Our first stop in Germany was the Friedland transit camp. After he returned from a US prisoner of war camp in 1946, my German grandfather also had to register there as a former prisoner of war. 41 years later, there I was, standing in exactly the same place, as though history had come full circle. Since 2016, our flight has been the subject of a permanent exhibition in the Friedland Museum.”
EDUCATION AND ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT“I was able to continue my education in my new home thanks to a stipend from the Otto Benecke Stiftung e.V. foundation. After taking a break for several years to look after my baby, I was able to enrol at the University of Fine Arts in Braunschweig (Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig), and was then given the honour of perfecting my skills in the field of free art in the masterclass run by Prof. John Armleder. I already began developing my own artistic language of form while I was a student, and still do so today as a concept artist, with installations, performances, film and experimental photography.”
MEMORY AND HISTORY IN MY ART“In my work, I connect personal experiences with history and collective memory. My film ‘DER ERSTE TAG’ (‘THE FIRST DAY’) tells the story of flight from Poland and crossing the border during the communist era. ‘PATER NOSTER’ is an artistic interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer, which I showed in Israel. ‘SINE NOMINIBUS’ is a homage to my grandfather and to all those who have faded away without trace or name and whom no-one remembers any more. The work was created as a replacement for two missing paintings which once decorated the baroque high altar in the church of St. Peter in Braunschweig, which was built in 1649 in the auricular style by Hermann Scheller.”
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT“In addition to working as an artist, I have also been involved in the social and cultural fields for years now. I have already performed a number of different functions; I have been chairwoman of the BBK Braunschweig, a member of the jury for the Lower Saxony integration prize, president of the KreativRegion association, and others.”
ART IN TIMES OF CRISIS“During the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time when the role of artists was particularly called into question, I received a stipend in the mentoring programme of the Federal Academy for Cultural Education in Wolfenbüttel (Bundesakademie für Kulturelle Bildung Wolfenbüttel). Thanks to this support, I was able not only to continue with my work as an artist, but also to deepen it, by examining the value of art in times of global crises.”
WAR AND MEMORY“Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, my works ‘JEDEM DAS SEINE, LEO!’ and “D-DAY HEERESGRUPPE MIT FRANZ’ attracted a great deal of attention and were included in a group exhibition that explores in depth the complex relationships between memory, guilt and reconciliation. The exhibition shows how art can open up new perspectives on historical events. Within this framework, my work was shown in the Bergen-Belsen memorial site, the Buchenwald memorial site, the Lower Saxony representation building in Berlin, and elsewhere.”
RETURN TO FRIEDLAND – AN ARTISTIC EXAMINATION OF THE PAST“Many years later, I returned to Friedland, this time as an artist, in order to explore the past, intergenerational history and my own life experiences through my work. In 2026, my autobiographical installation ‘ZWISCHEN ZEITEN’ (‘BETWEEN TIMES’) will be included in the permanent exhibition in the new annexe of the Friedland Museum. It questions the extent to which the past impacts our present and our shared future.”
SPACE FOR LIVING AND CREATING“In Braunschweig, I find the space for living and creating that gives my art meaning.”
Artist’s website:
www.sabina-kaluza.de
