1943

With 1943 Francis Alÿs reflects on the role of artists in times of war or life-threatening conflicts. The prose poem sums up a list of avant-garde artists in different imagined situations in the year 1943, in the midst of World War II. How did the artists survive? How did they resist oppression and violence? Some of them document and denounce the atrocities of those years, some sympathise or collaborate, while others just carry on with what they were doing, withdraw from public life or go into exile. With his reflections Alÿs raises a philosophical question regarding the ethical position of artists confronted with crisis or tragic events. Should artists resist or act against oppression? Is it their duty to produce images and works that respond to the conflict?