'Galichnik Dew' is the result of stay at the artist residency Art Colony Galichnik in August 2023.
Curator Ana Frangovska invited me and eight others artists to think and reflect on the topic of (de)colonization of Nature. This resulted in new poetry, written on stones from the village with charcoal and graphite. These poems aim to question what is meant by "colonizing nature" and what is natural to human kind.
The work is in possession of the Art Colony Galichnik collection.
Mountain air
Like Nietzsche arrived in Turin
for his health
resulting in his mental breakdown
Do I find myself in Galichnik
Not for my health
if at all, than for my mental health
To focus and to concentrate
To somewhat rest and flee from
the busy city
But I feel dull
with a slight everlasting headache
I guess the mountains do me no good
I must be doomed for the city
The siege of Galichnik
They came fleeing from the Ottomans
Now the village is dying
Or is it?
Artemis takes back what’s hers
covering the village with a cloak of white fur
Only two lights burn
Inaccessible during winter
And why would men go
to honey bitter?
Or is it?
Clever as she is
on warm summer days
she sends bears
to make the message clear
Leave the village to death near
Or is it?
It’s a battlefield
Ivy, snow and bears
Heritage, holiday and cold beer
A bear appeared
When I was wandering
through the wonderfull
nature of Galichnik
A bear appeared in front of me
first roaring than looking at me
“Bear, what are you doing?!”
“I’m on my way to Galichnik
to gather a splendid meal.”
“Oh bear, do you not know
of the humans and their cruelty?
Of how they destroy that which is
natural, fair and beautiful?
Don’t you know about
the smog and tar
the chimneys and skyscrapers
the noise and the pollution?
Save yourself, go back to your cave
eat honey, sleep and be grateful.”
The bear frowned, deep in thought
than he smiled and waved
Going his way
with the fruits of the day.