How can we remain insensitive in the face of such resilience and beauty? With this exhibition dedicated to Roma artist Ceija Stojka (1933-2013, AT), Galerie Christophe Gaillard Brussels invites you on a journey to the heart of the little-known story of the Roma genocide, seen through the eyes of an artist whose every work is an act of survival.
“This story begins in a whirlwind of color, light and laughter. With the taste of rain on your lips, the wind in your hair and wild grasses in gypsy farandoles. But then comes the night of the camps, the night of barbed wire and the power of a tiny racist man. After Auschwitz, after fear, the sun reappears to say yes to life. Take a deep breath, stretch out your fists to the sky and stay united, because we're stronger when we sing together. Playing with lists of words, to ward off misfortune and open up to happiness. The granddaughter has become a great-great-grandmother, but for the Roma, the journey is never over.” *
Ceija Stojka, born in Austria in 1933 and deported at the age of ten, survived the Auschwitz, Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen camps. It wasn't until the age of 55 that the self-taught artist began a fantastic work of memory, breaking the silence on years of atrocities through painting and writing. His works, produced until shortly before his death in 2013, are more than testimonies: they are cries of alarm, messages of hope and acts of resistance in the face of oblivion.
This exhibition unveils nearly fifty works capturing both moments of joy and the shadows of the past, from memories of a free childhood in Roma caravans to dark scenes from the death camps. Each painting, imbued with a naïve perspective, reflects the eyes of the little girl she was, and the compositions offer an intimate glimpse into her memories and experiences.
Each brushstroke is a cry for life, each canvas a window onto the unspeakable. Ceija Stojka's works capture fear and pain, but also hope and resilience, reminding us that even in the darkest moments, light persists.
Present in the collections of the Moderna Museet Stockholm (SE), Ludwig Museum Cologne (DE), House of European History, Brussels (BE), Pinault collection, Paris (FR), his work, which blends light and shadow, is supported by institutions such as the Reina Sofía Museum (ES), the Kunsthalle Malmö (SE), the Wien Museum (AT) and not forgetting the Jewish Museum of Belgium (BE), and enables us to understand a little-known part of the Second World War and to commit ourselves to the memory.
This exhibition is a rare opportunity to discover these poignant works in Brussels, where each painting reminds us of the urgent need never to forget.
(*) Murielle Szac, editor of the book “Le tournesol est la fleur du Rom”, nov. 2020a
