NEW YORK, NY.- In 1939, Captain N醤dor Andr醩ovits ferried a group of Eastern European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution down the Danube River to a ship on the Black Sea that would carry them to Palestine. The following year, Captain Andr醩ovits evacuated 閙igr German farmers from their adopted homeland of Bessarabia (modern-day Ukraine and Moldova) after Soviet re-annexation, and transported them to the “safety” of the Third Reich. Remarkably, as an amateur filmmaker Captain Andr醩ovits documented both journeys, providing a unique eyewitness account of these historic events.
In 1998, the innovative Hungarian artist and filmmaker P閠er Forg醕s adapted Captain Andr醩ovits’s 8mm footage as the basis of his film The Danube Exodus. Four years later, Forg醕s teamed up with The Labyrinth Project, an art collective at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, to re-edit Forg醕s’s film with forty hours of additional footage, transforming it into an interactive experience.
The Danube Exodus: The Rippling Currents of the River, By Peter Forg醕s and The Labyrinth Project, on view at The
Jewish Museum from March 15 through August 2, 2009, draws together images, words, and sounds to create a multimedia exhibition about the displacement of different ethnic minorities, and the possible similarities between the challenges they face. The installation immerses visitors in three interwoven historical narratives, which they access with a touch-screen computer and view on five large screens: the escape of the Eastern European Jewish refugees; the resettlement of 閙igr German farmers who were relocated to occupied Poland; and the story of Captain Andr醩ovits and the Danube River. Viewers can select which stories they watch, and in what order, exposing the process of selection, juxtaposition, and omission in the writing and rewriting of history. The projected images are accompanied by an immersive sound track including ambient sounds of the river and harbor, the mechanical rhythms of ships’ engines, regional music from the period, songs and prayers of the refugees, voiceovers of Captain Andr醩ovits and his passengers, and the minimalist music of composer Tibor Szemz. Additional information, including recent interviews with survivors, can be found at two computer stations and on a historical timeline in an adjacent gallery. The exhibition and a related lecture are part of Extremely Hungary, a yearlong festival showcasing contemporary Hungarian arts.
P閠er Forg醕s (b. 1950) is a media artist and independent filmmaker based in Budapest, whose works have been exhibited worldwide. Since 1978 he has produced over thirty films. He is best known for his haunting films that reorchestrate found footage, particularly the Private Hungary series of award winning films based on home movies from the 1930s and 1960s, which document ordinary lives that were soon ruptured by historic events occurring off screen. His work is in the collection of such museums as the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou & Muse d’Art Moderne and The Getty Museum Special Collection.
The Labyrinth Project is an art collective and research initiative on database narrative at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California. Since 1997 it has been producing interactive documentaries in collaboration with independent artists, juxtaposing fictional and historical story elements in provocative ways.
This installation is based on P閠er Forg醕s’s 1998 documentary film The Danube Exodus and its research materials, produced by Lumen Film.
The Danube Exodus: The Rippling Currents of the River is directed by P閠er Forg醕s, in collaboration with The Labyrinth Project: Marsha Kinder, Rosemary Comella, Kristy H. A. Kang, and Scott Mahoy; produced by Marsha Kinder; music by Tibor Szemz; sound design by Jim McKee, Earwax Productions.
