This two-channel video is a rethought and redesigned installation version of the performance by the same title.
In the autumn of 2006 it was found out that Wojtek Ziemilski's grandfather, Wojciech Dzieduszycki, a notable citizen of the city of Wroclaw, was for many years a collaborator of the communist secret police. The family has not recovered from the shock, and tries to arrive at the true story. This installation is a combination of various forms of public address and artistic expression. One can find in it elements of personal confession, academic lecture, video art, and contemporary choreography.
"When I decided to write Small Narration I asked myself "What have I got that's powerful for me?" And I felt I had two things, one - that I'm a grandson, and the other - the universe of contemporary performing and visual art I identify with. After all, what is special about this sort of approach is a direct link with reality - with document, autobiography, with what surrounds us.
Small Narration is for me, among other things, a piece about memory. Memory is a space where the pain of absence is felt most acutely. Especially when we think about people, we remember a body, contact, its physicality, and at the same time our whole memory is connected to their absence. It's based on the body not being here anymore". Wojtek Ziemilski
1.04 – 6.08.2017 Contemporary Art Centre Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
29.09.2018 - 30.10.2018 Czech National Theatre, Prague, Czech
29.09.2018 - 30.10.2018 Czech National Theatre, Prague, Czech
“Ziemilski managed to ask about what it means to inherit in a powerful way, brilliantly avoiding pretensiousness or trying to ‘set the debate’” Małgorzata Dziewulska, Didaskalia
“A quietly devastating account of the forces that have compelled a generation to abandon grand narratives. ****”
Joyce Macmillian, Scotsman
“Simple, stark, fiercely intelligent and moving.”
Andrew Haydon, Postcards from The Gods