Month: January 2009

Krakow November 2005
The ‘new’ jewish cemetery. The earliest graves are from the 1840s. An older medieval cemetery also exists in Krakow – The Remuh, which was founded in 1553. Walking down this corridor of the cemetery I noticed that many of the headstones indicate dates of death in 1942, 1943 and 1944
On my various trips to Poland what has always struck me is how well individual graves are maintained and regularily visited by family members. The jewish cemeteries present a different story however – broken and overgrown graves and little evidence of the detrius of family visits.
On the winter’s day I entered the cemetery the caretaker greeted me in German – informing me that the cemetery was about to close.
Rathausufer 18 Düsseldorf-Altstadt; Reisel & Pescha Birnbach – from the inscription Reisel & Pescha were evicted rather than being deported – though their eventual fate was ‘murdered’
Kreuzberg Berlin
Stolpersteine – Naunynstrasse 46 Kreuzberg Berlin; Siegfried & Edith Robinski
This memorial in Fordon, Poland, marks the site of the Dolina Śmierci (valley of death) where 5,000 – 6,000 local residents were murdered in 1939. The panels on the memorial, which list just name and profession, reflect the lists compiled before the war, which sought to eradicate the doctors, lawyers and priests of a generation.
The Rhine from Rathausufer Düsseldorf-Altstadt
Stolpersteine Rathausufer 15 Düsseldorf-Altstadt; Alfred & Meta Meyerstein
Rathausufer 15 Düsseldorf-Altstadt
The church interior is a burnt out shell – damaged at the end of world war 2. Abandoned for many years it is slowly being restored.
Of the three planned facades of the Sagrada Familia only the Nativity facade to the east was completed during Gaudi’s lifetime. Work on the passion facade commenced in the 1950s and was only completed in the late 1970s. It has an austere and stripped back design – symbolising the passion and death of Jesus. While the passion facade follows the general outlines of Gaudi’s design the details – most notably the sculptures by the Catalan artist Josep Maria Subirachs – bring another layer of individual style to Gaudi’s last project.

The genesis of this project arose out of my first visits to Poland in 2005 and the stark differences I discovered between the Polish Catholic cemeteries and the state of the Jewish cemeteries in Krakow. It was not just the overgrown, cracked and broken tombstones – but also the years of death on many of the tombstones in the Miodowa Street cemetery. Then there is the absence of the detritus of visits by family members to the graves – clearly evident in other Polish cemeteries. It is this last visual clue that reminds us that in less than six years a rich and varied Jewish culture, which had existed for 600 years, was eradicated.

The statistics of those who were displaced seem beyond imagination – yet they involve countless individual lives and histories. The ‘Stolpersteine’ (Stumble Stones) project by the German artist Günter Demnig, is just one small step to assimilate this enormity into individual personal details. ‘Stumble Stones’ are small brass plaques lodged in the pavement next to the homes of those deported. Each plaque indicates the name, year of birth, date of deportation, and eventual destination of each individual. Sometimes whole clusters of these stones can be found where entire apartment blocks were evacuated of their inhabitants.

In the Polish city of Bydgoszcz at Fordon a memorial marks the site of the Dolina Śmierci (valley of death) where 5,000 – 6,000 local residents were murdered in 1939. The panels on the memorial, which list just name and profession, reflect the lists compiled before the war, which sought to eradicate the doctors, lawyers and priests of a generation.

These physical memories remind us that within the grand historical narrative lie the stories of ordinary people and everyday lives.

The burnt our shell of St Johannes church in Gdansk and the half-finished Sagrada de Familia in Barcelona are both reminders of the interruptions and dislocation of war and the distortions of fascism which has left its mark in cemeteries, cities and pavements across Europe.

37 Rue Andre Antoine – Paris 18ème
Place des Abbesses – Paris 18ème – lets be reasonable and try to reach the impossible
Quiet opinion
I love konass paris
Citizens
These memorials to Jewish children can be found on schools around Paris – a stark reminder of the 75,721 jews deported from France during the war. Fewer than 2,000 survived. These memorials also draw attention to the controversial role of the French authorities in assisting this process – a subject that remains in dispute to this day
Rue Denoyez – Paris 20ème – Monday
Rue Denoyez – Paris 20ème – Wednesday
Rue des Trois Freres – Paris 18ème
Boulevard de Belleville – vers Metro Belleville – Paris 20ème
Rue Ramponeau Paris 20ème – here rest the remains of Albert Chelbluns a member of the resistance – died for France 14 January 1945 – aged 20 years
Rue de Belleville – Paris 20ème
Rue du Faubourg St Denis, Paris 10ème
Canal St Martin – Paris 10ème
Quai de la Marne – Paris 19ème
Quai de Valmy – Paris 10ème
The murals at Abbessses metro have been in place since the mid 1990s – and added to throughout this time. In the renovations of 2007 they were removed.
Le Politburo – I remember it being a vietnamese restaurant. In its new guise it was little more than a stripped out shell – painted red with chairs that probably came from a school and a bar.
Paris has been renovating its metro stations – stripping back the cladding that covered the original tiling and advertisment hoardings.
The murals at Abbessses metro have been in place since the mid 1990s – and added to throughout this time. In the renovations of 2007 they were removed.
Rue des Montorgueil – Paris 2ème
Rue Des Rosiers – Paris 4ème
Rue de Cascades Paris 20ème
Rue du Faubourg St Denis – Paris 10ème – Porte St Denis
Canal St Martin – Paris 10ème
Rue du Steinkerque – Paris 18ème
Rue St Sauveur – Paris 2ème
Villa de L’Ermitage is on the edge of a mini quartier of low rise buildings, one of Paris’ villages – and a home to many film-makers, photographers,designers and artists. In the late 1990s the local residents (many who are prominent french artists) fought and won a battle with the local council who wanted to re-develop the quartier and destroy the village ambiance. It was my home for 18 months.
Villa de L’Ermitage – Paris 20ème, Mosko et Associés
Rue de Moussey – Paris 4ème – M. Lecorre 1979
After helping Kaye to clean her flat before returning to London we sat here in a little cafe in Beaubourg with Andy & Sarte
Metro Abbesses – Paris 18ème
MK2 cinema Quai de la Seine – Paris 19ème
Wembley Foods, rue du Faubourg St Denis, Paris 10ème
Boulangerie de Tradition
Quai de Valmy – Paris 10ème
Quai de la Seine – Paris 19ème, Lets hope you will understand the word ‘respect’
Metro Abbesses – Paris 18ème
Rue Henri Chevreau – Paris 20ème
Paris 8ème
Eglise St Merri – Paris 4ème
William Klein’s retrospective in February 2006 – one of the greatest of all street photographers. Looking through to St Merri in the background.

Walking through Paris from the fashionable 8ème to the rapidly gentrifying old working class districts to the North & North East brings you across a variety of signs and street art on the walls – official & unofficial. This journey takes in the work of contemporary urban artists, Mosko et Associés, monuments and memorials to the city’s history, and the work of architects, builders and artisans who have left their stamp on the fabric of Paris.

This series, collected over several years, also reflects the impermanence of the urban space – murals can be repainted, buildings torn down, districts regenerated and urban improvements created.

One example is the ongoing renovation of Paris’ metro stations, where the plastic cladding walls from the 1970s are being stripped away – to reveal the original tiles and advertising hoarding from the beginning of the 20th century. These ‘improvements’ however can also eradicate more recent history – such as the murals at Abbesses metro now painted over in featureless white, returning the station to its ‘original’ condition. On a recent trip to Paris I also discovered that the prowling tigers in the Villa de L’Ermitage had disappeared – replaced by a uniform covering of gray paint.

Le Flâneur

Memories of the Displaced

Les Murs de Paris