#42 Residency in Croatia

Today, while visiting Pula, I saw the sculpture "Kneeling Slave". The astonishingly small figure of the slave, belittling its value considering the great remnant of the "Owner's" feet. The Roman Empire conquered these areas before our era. Pula is home to one of the three surviving amphitheaters. The monumentality of the executioner, trampling the victim. It's sad to admit that it was exactly this building that attracted me here. It's hard to imagine how much slave blood was shed there. There are wonderful places in the world that owe their splendor to crime, exploitation, theft, murder - probably the whole of Western Europe, now wanting to set standards and ethics, also in countries that it has exploited for hundreds of years. This debt will never be repaid. Each murdered slave represents entire cities of the future, generations of people who could not build the power of their countries. Sustainability in its imbalance. Power, politics, economics trampling on a normal person. There are a lot of men in Rijeka who collect garbage. Is their life a matter of their choices? Or the inability to cope in a world that does not take into account the individual. Where are we going in Europe, towards sustainable development? These are the thoughts that guide me during the first week of artist residency in Rijeka.

        

        

By Kamil Wawrzuta 

Danas sam u posjetu Puli vidio skulpturu "Rob koji kleči". Zapanjujuće mala figura roba, umanjuje njegovu vrijednost s obzirom na veliki ostatak "Vlasnikovih" stopala. Rimsko Carstvo osvojilo je ove prostore prije naše ere. U Puli se nalazi jedan od tri sačuvana amfiteatra. Monumentalnost krvnika, koji gazi žrtvu. Tužno je priznati da me upravo ova zgrada privukla ovdje. Teško je i zamisliti koliko je robovske krvi tamo proliveno. Postoje prekrasna mjesta na svijetu koja svoj sjaj duguju kriminalu, izrabljivanju, krađi, ubojstvima - vjerojatno cijela Zapadna Europa, sada želi postaviti standarde i etiku, također u zemljama koje je iskorištavala stotinama godina. Ovaj dug nikada neće biti vraćen. Svaki ubijeni rob predstavlja cijele gradove budućnosti, generacije ljudi koji nisu mogli izgraditi moć svojih zemalja. Održivost u svojoj neravnoteži. Moć, politika, ekonomija gaze normalnog čovjeka. U Rijeci ima puno muškaraca koji skupljaju smeće. Je li njihov život stvar njihovih izbora? Ili nesposobnost snalaženja u svijetu koji ne uzima u obzir pojedinca. Kamo idemo u Europi, prema održivom razvoju? To su misli koje me vode tijekom prvog tjedna umjetničke rezidencije u Rijeci.