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Pascal Convert

At its core, the work of visual artist, writer and director Pascal Convert (b. 1957, Mont-de-Marsan, France) deals with memory and forgetfulness. He has published several books about Nazi resistance, created the Monument à la mémoire des otages fusillés au Mont-Valérien entre 1941 et 1944 (2003) and also worked at archaeological sites destroyed for ideological reasons in Afghanistan and Armenia. The Pietà du Kosovo (1999-2000) is one of a set of three sculptures made between 1999 and 2003. These sculptures were inspired by famous press photographs carefully selected by Convert both for their iconographic strength and for the events they depict. The artist highlights the symbolic power of these images and examines their political, aesthetic and cultural aspects, as well as how they impact memory construction and historical amnesia. For this piece, he used a photograph by Georges Mérillon (b. 1957, Talence, France), taken in the village of Nagafc in Kosovo on January 28, 1990, at the very start of the war between Serbia and Kosovo. The picture, later renamed La Pietà du Kosovo, was taken during the funeral wake of Nasimi Elshani, a young man who had been killed by Serbian police the previous day. When discussing this picture, the artist highlighted the ambiguous nature of representation: ‘What we saw was this mimic of western Christian painting archetypes, a photograph that reproduced the pictorial stereotypes of compassion. We refused to see its otherness, when in fact this image did not depict the death of Christ but a Sunni Muslim funeral rite.’

Artworks

  1. Pascal Convert Direct-Indirect, 1997

    Vidéo couleur, son
    Musique : Gilles Grand
    12 min 50 sec
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Donation 2005 – De l'artiste
    © Pascal Convert

  1. Pascal Convert Pietà du Kosovo, 1999–2000

    D’après la photographie Veillée funèbre au Kosovo de Georges Mérillon, 1990
    Cire, résine, cuivre
    224 x 278 x 40 cm
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2004
    © Photo : Frédéric Delpech

  1. Pascal Convert Madone de Bentalha, 2001–2002

    D’après la photographie Madone de Bentalha d’Hocine Zaourar, prix World Press/AFP, 1997
    Cire polychrome
    169,5 x 270 x 220 cm
    Commande et Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2000
    © Photo : Frédéric Delpech

  1. Pascal Convert Mort de Mohammed Al Dura, vendredi 29 septembre 2000, Bande de Gaza, 2002–2003

    D’après les photogrammes extraits de Mohammed’s death du cameraman Talal Abou Rahmed/A2, 2000
    Cire colorée
    171,5 x 280 x 80 cm
    Commande et Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Acquisition 2002
    Vue de l’exposition La Guerra che verrà non è la prima (The war which is coming is not the first), MART – Museo di arte moderne e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, 04.10.2014 – 20.09.2015
    © Photo : ÓArchivio Fotografico e Mediateca Mart

  1. Pascal Convert Direct-Indirect 2, 2003

    Vidéo couleur, son
    Musique : Gilles Grand
    Images : Mona et Balthazar Convert
    20 min
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Donation 2005 – De l'artiste
    © Pascal Convert

  1. Pascal Convert Direct-Indirect 3, 2004

    Vidéo couleur, son
    Musique : Bernard Lubat et André Minvielle
    Images : Mona et Arlette Convert
    27 min
    Collection Mudam Luxembourg
    Donation 2005 – De l'artiste
    © Pascal Convert

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