ξεχνώ.αλλά.θυμάμαι.I forget but I remember
170 cm x 214 cm
found object (κουβέρτα), κόκκινη και χρυσή κλωστή
2019
'...Vanezi explores the themes of loss, displacement, memory, and belonging. These works have in common the phrase ‘I forget but I remember’. This phrase is presented with different sensory techniques: a threaded needle pulled through a blanket’s fabric, and the juxtaposition of the words into a visual poetry book. This recurring phrase reflects the artist’s autobiographical experiences: from experiencing the 1974 war as a five-year-old child to becoming a refugee, unable to return to her ancestral home. Through her work, Vanezi invites the audience to remember the place they come from, as well as not to forget the occupied villages and towns.
The visual poetry ‘I Forget but I Remember’ talks about the refugee experience by using emotive words such as ‘home’, ‘bombs’, ‘walls’, ‘borders’, ‘homeland’, and ‘remember’. The work evokes what displacement is for the ones unable to return, barred away from their homes and who remain behind the walls of the Green Line border. It also reflects the passage of time of one living in exile while they slowly lose older family members, who pass away and then buried in foreign lands, away from their homelands.
Vanezi also engages with history and symbolism with the usage of the red yarn. The colour red has been used throughout history and internationally to represent women: in Italy, red shoes became the symbol against femicide and violence against women; Canada celebrates Red Dress Day, an awareness day for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls; the Suffrage Movement adopted red lipstick as a symbol of power; and during World War II, European and American women wore red lipstick as a symbol of resistance and faith in victory.
Vanezi uses red and gold threads to embroider the words ‘I Forget but I Remember’ to a blanket given to her family by the Red Cross following the 1974 war. Vanezi carried the blanket with her into the different cities she lived. As she explains, the blanket is a memento of ‘those who have now gone, my lost homeland, the people I lost, and the life that is gone and will not return’..."
Dr Maria Photiou
Art Historian and Researcher
Έργο | found object | γλωσσική εγκατάσταση με τίτλο ξεχνώ.αλλά.θυμάμαι.| Ι forget but I remember
Λευκή μάλλινη κουβέρτα του Ερυθρού Σταυρού η οποία δόθηκε στην εκδιωγμένη από την κατεχόμενη Λευκωσία οικογένεια της καλλιτέχνιδας μετά την τουρκική εισβολή του 1974. Αυτή η κουβέρτα αποτελεί ένα οικείο αντικείμενο μνήμης ως η κουβέρτα της παιδικής - εφηβικής ηλικίας της καλλιτέχνιδας την οποία έπαιρνε πάντα μαζί της στις πόλεις που ζούσε στο εξωτερικό.
Για την έκθεση αυτή η καλλιτέχνιδα κέντησε στις δύο άκρες , την μία με κόκκινη κλωστή και την άλλη με χρυσή, την φράση Ι forget but I remember . Η φράση αυτή επαναλαμβάνεται και σε άλλα έργα , γλωσσικές ή ηχητικές δομές όπως επίσης και στο καλλιτεχνικό βιβλίο οπτικής ποίησης που εκδόθηκε αντί καταλόγου με αφορμή την έκθεση στο Σπίτι της Κύπρου με την χορηγία των Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών
found object (κουβέρτα), κόκκινη και χρυσή κλωστή
2019
'...Vanezi explores the themes of loss, displacement, memory, and belonging. These works have in common the phrase ‘I forget but I remember’. This phrase is presented with different sensory techniques: a threaded needle pulled through a blanket’s fabric, and the juxtaposition of the words into a visual poetry book. This recurring phrase reflects the artist’s autobiographical experiences: from experiencing the 1974 war as a five-year-old child to becoming a refugee, unable to return to her ancestral home. Through her work, Vanezi invites the audience to remember the place they come from, as well as not to forget the occupied villages and towns.
The visual poetry ‘I Forget but I Remember’ talks about the refugee experience by using emotive words such as ‘home’, ‘bombs’, ‘walls’, ‘borders’, ‘homeland’, and ‘remember’. The work evokes what displacement is for the ones unable to return, barred away from their homes and who remain behind the walls of the Green Line border. It also reflects the passage of time of one living in exile while they slowly lose older family members, who pass away and then buried in foreign lands, away from their homelands.
Vanezi also engages with history and symbolism with the usage of the red yarn. The colour red has been used throughout history and internationally to represent women: in Italy, red shoes became the symbol against femicide and violence against women; Canada celebrates Red Dress Day, an awareness day for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls; the Suffrage Movement adopted red lipstick as a symbol of power; and during World War II, European and American women wore red lipstick as a symbol of resistance and faith in victory.
Vanezi uses red and gold threads to embroider the words ‘I Forget but I Remember’ to a blanket given to her family by the Red Cross following the 1974 war. Vanezi carried the blanket with her into the different cities she lived. As she explains, the blanket is a memento of ‘those who have now gone, my lost homeland, the people I lost, and the life that is gone and will not return’..."
Dr Maria Photiou
Art Historian and Researcher
Έργο | found object | γλωσσική εγκατάσταση με τίτλο ξεχνώ.αλλά.θυμάμαι.| Ι forget but I remember
Λευκή μάλλινη κουβέρτα του Ερυθρού Σταυρού η οποία δόθηκε στην εκδιωγμένη από την κατεχόμενη Λευκωσία οικογένεια της καλλιτέχνιδας μετά την τουρκική εισβολή του 1974. Αυτή η κουβέρτα αποτελεί ένα οικείο αντικείμενο μνήμης ως η κουβέρτα της παιδικής - εφηβικής ηλικίας της καλλιτέχνιδας την οποία έπαιρνε πάντα μαζί της στις πόλεις που ζούσε στο εξωτερικό.
Για την έκθεση αυτή η καλλιτέχνιδα κέντησε στις δύο άκρες , την μία με κόκκινη κλωστή και την άλλη με χρυσή, την φράση Ι forget but I remember . Η φράση αυτή επαναλαμβάνεται και σε άλλα έργα , γλωσσικές ή ηχητικές δομές όπως επίσης και στο καλλιτεχνικό βιβλίο οπτικής ποίησης που εκδόθηκε αντί καταλόγου με αφορμή την έκθεση στο Σπίτι της Κύπρου με την χορηγία των Πολιτιστικών Υπηρεσιών
