Rosângela Rennó’s “document-monument” project takes as its starting point an extensive set of photographs downloaded from the Internet: a singular collection of monuments by Vladimir Lenin, destroyed or not, from different periods, which formed part of one of the identity marks of the Soviet socialist republics and which constituted one of the symbols of the revolution carried out from 1917 onwards.

Photography as a cultural artefact not only speaks of what it shows but also harbours its own history. By observing these photos as indicative witnesses of a historical process, Rennó wonders how monuments can be transformed into souvenirs. When identified as a symbol of communism, these monuments were destroyed and their remains still remain in those countries that formed part of the Soviet Union; but others located in other parts of the planet are also registered.

This curious set of photographs, organized in albums folded like an accordion, like those old postcard albums that were sold as souvenirs of emblematic cities or historical sites, are an invitation for the public to go through them and with them go through possible memories in a commemorating way. The public will be able to decide, according to their own perspectives, which of these monuments is “good” and which is “bad apple”, that is, which of them remains and which have been destroyed, but they will also be able to define what other uses or meanings could be assigned to them. The artist adds handwritten inscriptions to these images that contribute to these resignifications of senses, to this tension that the installation proposes between document and monument, between past and present, between instituted senses and new, re-imagined senses.

Artist: Rosângela Rennó (BRA)

MUNTREF Headquarters Immigrant Hotel

From 25 June to 30 November

Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 19:00 hs.

Av Antártida Argentina (between Dirección Nacional de Migraciones and Buquebus). Entrance by Naval Post. Puerto Madero.