Resending postcards sent during the Cold War to the intended recipients, 2017

「あの言語は言語のように聞こえる」、Edel Assanti、ロンドン、2017での展示風景
撮影：Studio Will Amlot
写真提供：Edel Assanti, ロンドン
Installation view "That Language Sounds Like a Language" at Edel Assanti, London, 2017
Photo by Studio Will Amlot
Courtesy of Edel Assanti, London

ビデオスティル、2017
撮影：Yelena Maksutay
Video still, 2017
Video by Yelena Maksutay

冷戦時代に配達された絵はがきを届け先に再送する

2017, シングルチャンネルのビデオ(20’15min)と絵はがき
かてつの冷戦の境界を回顧するかのようにウィーンとハンガリーのブダペストの蚤の市を訪れ、冷戦時に東西の壁を越えてなされた会話、つまり配達された絵はがきを探し求め、それらを受取人へ再送する過程を収める。多くの絵はがきは、郵便局から元の受取人へ改めて発送され、残りはその記録映像の横で展示された。ハガキの大部分は、受取人の死亡または住所変更ために受取人不明となり、改めて公式に郵便局ネットワーク上で迷子となる。これら未完の旅を完成させようとする試みによって、過去のイデオロギーや物理的な障害とは無関係に、東西冷戦から現在への時間の中断という時空に肉体を与えようとする。

Resending Postcards Sent During the Cold War to the Intended Recipients

2017, Single channel video (20’15 min) and postcards
This project documents Niwa visiting flea markets in Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary as if retracing the former Cold War boundary to search for conversations made over the Cold War border, in other words, postcards successfully sent across the border during that period, and resending them to the intended recipients. Most of the postcards were resent to the originally intended recipients from a post office, and the rest were saved to exhibit alongside the documentary film. The vast majority of the postcards officially get lost again on the postal network because no recipients are found due to their death or address change. Independent of past ideology and physical obstacles, Niwa attempts to give a body to the space-time of the interrupted time from the Cold War to present by completing the journey of these postcards.   

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