Exhibition: Aug. 28–Dec. 7, 2023
An exhibition and artist talk will be held Oct. 12, 4–6 p.m.
Location
Terra Hall
211 S. Broad St., 15th floor, Photography Gallery
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Hours
Mondays, 12–4 p.m.
Wednesdays, 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m., 3:30–6 p.m.
Thursdays, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Fridays, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Statement by Krista Svalbonas
I explore architecture’s relationship to cultural identity, social hierarchy and psychological space. My cultural background as an ethnically Latvian/Lithuanian artist informs this interest. My parents spent many years after the end of World War II (WWII) in displaced-person (DP) camps in Germany before they were allowed to emigrate to the U.S. My connection to this history has made me acutely aware of the impact of politics on architecture, and in turn, on a people’s daily lived experience. This exhibition highlights two recent bodies of work focusing on the history of the Baltic states surrounding WWII.
Displacement traces former Baltic WWII displaced person camps in Germany and the refugees who inhabited these spaces. After intensive archival research, I was able to locate, visit and photograph many of the actual buildings on the sites of former DP camps in Germany. Today, the buildings give no hint of the tumultuous lives of the postwar refugees, stuck in stateless limbo with no idea what the future held.
To better understand and honor their struggles, I turned to archived copies of the plea letters the Baltic refugees sent to the governments of the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Page after page, they begged for food, bedding and medical supplies and attempted to explain the dire fate that would await them if they were repatriated to the Soviet Union. I merge these painful accounts with the photographs through a process of burning, an echo of the traumas of war the refugees had endured. Eventually made entirely of lace-like text, the buildings grow fragile, inseparable from the precarious lives they housed. These works are partnered with portraits I have taken of Baltic refugees in their homes throughout North America.
Remnants combines my photographs of Soviet architecture in the Baltic region with traditional Baltic textile designs. I use a laser cutter to cut the textile patterns directly onto black-and-white photographs of the cold and imposing buildings. This series explores the power of folk art and crafts as a form of defiance against the Soviet occupiers by focusing on how traditional textile designs provide a counterpoint to Soviet-era architecture and the memory of its totalitarian agenda. The juxtaposition of concrete structures with folk art designs also references the strength and determination of the women who created the weavings. Overall, the series examines the ways in which people are shaped by their environment and how they can rebel against it to preserve their identity and culture.
Image: “Muhldorf,” laser-cut pigment print, 14" x 21", 2020
