4K video; camera and editing: Lukas Zerbst
7:34 min.
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz
Cleaning Sappho is part of the performance series Cleaning Her, in which Martina Morger draws attention to artworks in public space created by women by means of an act of care. Designed by the Italian sculptor Adelaide Maraini-Pandiani (1836–1917) at the end of the
19th century, the Sappho statue was on display at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen until the 1970s, when vandals broke off its nose and it was relocated to a small park. In this context, Morger, dressed in work overalls, begins to clean the marble sculpture with a neon-green cloth and a bucket of water. Assuming the role of carer, she wrings out the cloth, carefully dabbing and wiping the feet, neck and face. Conservation, which is precisely not the aim of this activity, would require quite different tools. As the cleaning process takes place, another interaction with the body of the statue occurs at a subliminal level. Comforting, almost affectionate gestures, such as touching Sappho's hand, raise questions of appreciation and visibility: which artworks are preserved or remembered by public authorities? Which historical and contemporary figures are (not) present in our everyday environment and how does this shape the perception of their importance? Which work is remunerated fairly in the sphere of art and culture?
Cleaning Sappho follows on in the vein of actions and performances since the late 1960s. Taking a queer, feminist stance, Morger explores care work as a form of art, contributing to the current debate on the under-representation of women in public space. A kind of cleaning instruction encourages us to engage in a collective examination of neglected works. With regard to the statue, it is of particular interest that the sculptor Maraini-Pandiani and the ancient philosopher Sappho both broke away from the social structures of their times.
Leslie Ospelt
"Yet I am not one who takes joy in wounding, / Mine is a quiet mind ... // And I say to you someone will remember us / In time to come ... // ... ... ... but you have forgotten me ... // Now my hair is white, and no longer dark. / My heart's heavy, my legs won't support me, / I grieve often for my state; what can I do? / Being human, there's no way not to grow old. // The moon is down, / I lie, alone."
Sappho
Poem fragments from: https://www.saiten.ch/cleaning-sappho/ (last access: June 2023)
