The Broken Pitcher

A project by Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Marina Christodoulidou and Peter Eramian

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Project description

The “Broken Pitcher” begins with a meeting between a family and a bank clerk who must foreclose on the family’s home. The meeting was re-enacted and filmed inside a bank branch in Larnaca, Cyprus in 2019. The location and scene were based on factual events and reconstructed from written recollection. The foreclosure portrayed in the film is the consequence of austerity measures put in place as part of the rescue package negotiated between Cyprus and European Troika. “The Broken Pitcher” was inspired by Abbas Kiarostami’s film “First Case – Second Case” (Iran, 1979).

The re-enacted scene in the bank is shown to various people who are subsequently asked what they think the bank clerk should do. Their answers represent a diverse range of international perspectives held by lobbyists, tenant rights activists and individuals who have suffered a similar fate. In interviews with bank officials, attorneys, economists and historians, debt and taxes are considered part of colonial structures in a historic context.

The resulting two-part film will be presented inside a foldable exhibition and event room as a video installation with a walk-in bank lobby. The venue will be set up in various public locations in several Cyprian cities (north and south), organised by the local project group Thkio Ppallies. This phase will be followed by additional screenings worldwide. The film will be accompanied by discussion events with interest groups and lobbyists at the GfZK Leipzig, HKW Berlin, Lenbachhaus München, Steirischer Herbst festival in Graz, Taxispalais Innsbruck, Beirut Art Center and Museo Tamar in Mexico City. The project organisers in collaboration with various participants plan to present a wide range of perspectives on the topic in the form of a brochure.

 

Collaboration partners: GfZK Leipzig and Thkio Ppalies, Nicosia
Artistic directors: Marina Christodoulidou, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Peter Eramian
Participating artists: Stellios Kallinikou, Emiddio Vasquez, Raissa Angeli, Nayia Savva, Faysal Mroueh, Orestis Lazouras, Maria Toumazou, Rumen Tropchev, Panayotis Mina, Keti Papadema
Additional project partners: Beirut Art Center, HKW Berlin, Lehnbachhaus München, Taxispalais Innsbruck, Casco Utrecht

Workshop and and film shoot (pt. 1) Thkio Ppalies, Nicosia: 16 Nov. – 3 Dec.2021; presentation and screenings at public venues, Cyprus: 2 – 31 May 2022; Beirut Art Center: 15 Jun. – 9 Sep. 2022; exhibition: Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (GfZK), Leipzig: 14 Oct. 2022 – 23 Jan. 2023; screening, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin: November 2022; Lenbachhaus München, Casco Utrecht, Taxispalais Innsbruck: starting spring/summer 2023

Contact

Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig


Karl-Tauchnitz-Str. 9–11
04107 Leipzig

www.gfzk.de (external link, opens in a new window)