Kvarstonoj (part of ‘monument for an almost country’) (2016)
2016, video, subtitled narrative, scans of 4x5 inch black and white photographs (print and scanned), zinc stones, found documents, archival documents, personal and archive photographs, written narrative, installation view: Locatie Z, Den Haag
What has Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat, a country with a circumference of 25 km, an artificial language andthe horizon in common? In this work the research focuses on the establishment of an Esperanto state in 1908, which takes place in a stateless area between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Both the creation of state borders, the creation of the language of Esperanto and the practice of Esperanto in Neutral Moresnet are structures that were imposed on people who lived in the area and did not happen naturally. Many thanks to the Museum of Moresnet, Kelmis (Belgium) & The Esperanto Archive, Vienna, Austria.
What has Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat, a country with a circumference of 25 km, an artificial language andthe horizon in common? In this work the research focuses on the establishment of an Esperanto state in 1908, which takes place in a stateless area between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Both the creation of state borders, the creation of the language of Esperanto and the practice of Esperanto in Neutral Moresnet are structures that were imposed on people who lived in the area and did not happen naturally. Many thanks to the Museum of Moresnet, Kelmis (Belgium) & The Esperanto Archive, Vienna, Austria.
