Kanada
Joyce Lau
"A
wealthy transport. Oh, this underwear, these shoes... and those eats. All I can
say is : Kanada!"
--overheard in the Clothing
Depot Kommando, Auschwitz-Birkenau, between 1942-1945[i]
In
2011, I travelled to Poland and visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. Preserved as a
memorial and museum, a portion of the site consists of rooms containing the
plunder of articles which had once belonged to prisoners. At the time of the
Holocaust, several dozen barracks which contained these items became known as
"Kanada," associating the goods with the riches and abundance of the
country. Entering into these rooms of the museum, you are confronted with
heaping collections of the sorted plunder, from shoes to suitcases, to personal
belongings such as shaving brushes and Nivea cream, to prosthetic limbs, and
even to hair shaved from the heads of prisoners. It is a sight that is
difficult to take in.
Initially,
my vision for this work was to utilize the glass display element of the vitrine
to insinuate the actual presentation of the objects in Auschwitz; however, as I
scrutinized the concept, I wanted to change the experience. In a room full of
plundered shoes, your eyes are bewildered and scan back and forth through the
clutter trying to grasp the enormity of what you are seeing. I want to help
eliminate that confusion, and also instigate a form of focus and contemplation
of individualisation. Instead of seeing a pile of shoes, I want viewers to
focus on a small section of the pile, and consider who may have worn that one
shoe that is in direct sight. I want to evoke an identity.
The
magnifying glass works to highlight and distinguish an element in the
photographs. It is also meant to bring attention to the fact that prisoners
were constantly watched by the SS guards. The voyeurism involved in staring
reminds us of their loss of freedom.
With
the addition of the vinyl blocking out the vitrines, a circular glow will
emanate from the magnifying glass of each of the three display cases to create
an ethereal mood. Moreover, the black vinyl creates a strong contrast between
light and dark. The association of light with the subject matter makes
allusions to hope and of a greater beyond.
The
intimate qualities that I aspire to achieve with this installation is my
reaction to the fact that the plunder was known as "Kanada." Although
it was meant as a nod to the glorious bounty of the country, as a Canadian
viewing such a horrible result of tyranny, I feel that it generates a vile
association. By attempting to personalize the items, and using illumination as
a crucial component to the presentation, I bring forth compassion, humility,
and promise.
[i]
Hermann Langbein, People in Auschwitz,
trans. Harry Zohn (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press: Published
in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2004), 140.
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