Umschlagplatz

performance
video: 2’03’’
Umschlagplatz, Warsaw, PL
2015

„Justina Los is a native of Poland, who grew up partly in German culture and language. She decided to clean the monument at the Umschlagplatz with brushes, water and soap. She cleaned it constantly and was on site for many days. There are always tour groups there, mainly coming from Israel. Many asked her, „Are you Jewish?” to which she responded in the negative, saying she was Polish with a strong relationship to Germany. This work or discussion was not concluded by a period or even an exclamation po- int, but led to a serious and suspended situation, asking: Why is she doing this?”

(Krzysztof Wodiczko in conversation with Marek Wasilewski: Personal and public, existential and political; „Odszkolnić Akademie - Praktyki”, Arsenal Gallery Edition, 2018)