Yochai Avrahami    יוחאי אברהמי

After World War II, as Cologne lay in ruins, debris from destroyed buildings was gathered and assembled into artificial mountains. The largest of these has since become the landmark known as Herkulesberg, which was initially also proposed as a memorial site. The site was to feature a sculpture by Gerhard Marcks, whose statue The Mourner was erected in front of Cologne’s St. Maria church in 1949, dedicated to all the victims of the war. Staging his site-specific installation in an archaeological-style tent, Israeli artist Yochai Avrahami critically examines the culture of state-sponsored memorials and their tendency toward universalizing claims, while referring to recent debates around the archeological zone and the Jewish Museum in Cologne.
On October 16 2014, Yochai Avrahami led a group of the Academy's guests to the installation and demonstrated his temporary museum in a performative guided tour.

 

Ekaterina Degot & David Riff