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Swetlana Heger has been taking photographs of bronze animal statuettes that are scattered in parks,
zoos, and defunct kindergartens throughout the eastern part of Berlin. There’s a peacock with its
plumage replaced by intricate metal lacework, a pair of baby giraffes, a fierce goat, a cuddly bear, a trio
of plump chickens. Innocent as all the beasts seem, they guard a secret: they’ve been made from Stalin’
s remains. In 1949 the Stalinallee became the main drag in the socialist half of the city. A giant bronze
statue of the benevolent leader was eventually erected to crown and commemorate his achievement.
After Stalin’s death in 1961, it was considered urgent that a new name be found for the boulevard. The
new government went with the much safer choice of Karl-Marx-Allee. There was still the matter of that
bronze monument. The statue itself needed to be eradicated. And so it was brought down. The bronze
was melted and redistributed into the animal figurines that Heger has been hunting down and
documenting throughout Berlin.
Animal Farm
2007
Black & white pigment prints, colored frames
Solo Exhibitions
2008 Konsthall, Kalmar, Sweden
Musée des Beaux Arts, Dôle, France
2007 Galerie Frank Elbaz, Paris, France
Thierry Goldberg Projects, New York, USA
Coma, Berlin, Germany
Kunstverein Assenheim, Assenheim, Germany
2006 La Salle de Bains, Lyon, France
Haus Am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany
2005 Artists Space, New York, USA
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn & Taxis, Bregenz, Austria
Ibidprojects, London, UK
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany
Galeria Javier López, Madrid, Spain
2004 Ap, 4, Art, Geneva, Switzerland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2007 If Water Crystal, Crystal Water, Ingalls Associates, Miami, USA
Constructing New Berlin, The Bass Museum Of Art, Miami, USA
Deutsche Geschichten, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Germany
House Trip, Art Forum, Berlin, Germany
What We Bought, Camera Austria – Kunsthaus, Graz, Austria
Op-Ed World, Galerie Frank Elbaz, Paris, France
Conditions Of Display, The Moore Space, Locust Projects, Miami, USA
Poetic Visions, Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York, USA
The 60 Second Southern Video Festival, Harmony Landing, Pegram, USA
2006 Constructing New Berlin, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, USA
Kit ́O ́Parts, Can, Neuchatel, Switzerland
Kick Off Berlin, Haus Am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany
Vom Pferd Erzählen, Kunsthalle Göppingen, Germany
Human Game, Fondazione Pitti Discovery, Stazione Leopolda, Florence, Italy
2005 Pour de vrai, Musée des Beaux Arts, Nancy, France
Art And Design In The Daily Life, Stedelijk Museum Belfort, Aalst, The Netherlands
Prenez l ́air de Paris, Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France
Mediascapes 3, Fúndacio La Caixa, Girona, Spain
Mediascapes 2, Fúndacio La Caixa, Tarragona, Spain
Simultan–Zwei Sammlungen Österreichischer Fotografie, Museum Der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
2004 Body Display, Performative Installation, Secession, Vienna, Austria
One In A Million In Urban Life, Economies Of The Self In Everyday Urban Life, Austria
