Cellars of the soul 2012

The photographs in this series were created in a historical institution and document the core of the cellars of remembrance imprisoned there, a moment before the arrival of the real estate development bulldozers. The photographs impart a sense of obstruction, suffocation, and putrefaction that raises questions on their role as symbols of time and place. What is the importance of the knowledge that over the years has piled up in these places, and what is the relevance of its present use? The disintegrating book, the peeling walls, and the overall neglect are depicted as painful memories, as physical wounds that with time seem to have healed, and that delving into them for information is like peeling away something that would, perhaps, be better left behind. Is there justification in preserving these scraps of the past as closed historical evidence? Do they hold materials vital for our contemporary life, or will their release be like opening a Pandora’s Box that will free demons that cannot be repressed?