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Interrupted Games. Pax Vobis Memento Mori Qui Ludentis Pilla

Interrupted Games. Pax Vobis Memento Mori Qui Ludentis Pilla
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    • Interrupted Games. Pax Vobis Memento Mori Qui Ludentis Pilla
    • Prekinute igre. Pax Vobis Memento Mori Qui Ludentis Pilla
  • 1993
  • 2 b&w photographs, baryt paper
  • 58 × 113 cm
"Interrupted Games" is featuring children playing squash against the rear façade of the Dubrovnik cathedral. One image captures the exact moment when the ball gets stuck in one of the volutes of a pillar capital, with the children’s movements captured in action. The other photograph is a zoom-in on the trapped ball, somehow mimicking the bullets of the Yugoslav war that are called to mind by the holes on the façade, next to other imprisoned balls. This public square, called Bunićeva Poljana, was a frequent target for attacks by Serbian snipers during the siege of Dubrovnik, and led children to abandon their favorite playground for many months. Therefore, with a hidden sense of gravity, these images confront the great history of the city and its tragic fate, with anecdotal stories that both bring children’s play to an end. The work is subtitled "Pax, Vobis, Memento mori qui, Ludetis pilla" (Peace be with you. Remember you are mortal, you, who play with a ball), which enhances the metaphor contained in the game. M.S.