Ishai Shapira Kalter
Artist-In-Residence
January 1 - July 31, 2019
Cité Internationale des Arts
Paris, FR
These are three independent videos, each recorded during the same period of time. You’re welcome to play them simultaneously on your PC and adjust the sound at your convenience, as the audio may overlap unpleasantly if not controlled.
Zimmermann Pt. 27 (News)
2019
“27” A dance to Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) “Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night / La Nuit transfigurée), Op.4” (1899)
2019
Ishai Shapira Kalter, Notre-Dame, April 15, 2019
North Korean state media is notoriously insulated and tightly controlled, rarely reporting on foreign disasters—especially those unrelated to its direct interests—unless there’s a clear political message to extract. The fact that North Korean media mentioned the Notre-Dame fire which caused significant damage to the iconic structure on April 15, of all days, is allegedly unusual.
Every April 15 North Korea is celebrating its most important national holiday: “The Day of the Sun”. It is the birthday of Kim Il-sung, the country’s founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un. The occasion is marked with mass celebrations, parades, often military displays and fireworks.
I was there. The smell of smoke drifted into my studio at the Cité, and, following my nose, I stepped outside. The video above captures those prolonged moments of collapse—moments that might be seen as the opening shot in a series of bizarre events that continue to unfold in contemporary Western culture to this day.
In certain circumstances—like the one we find ourselves in today, where truth often appears as little more than a manipulation designed to divert public attention from deeper “subtruths”—art must assume the role of proposing theories that empirical science cannot. Even at the risk of being dismissed as a foolish mistake by future audiences, if such an audience ever arrives to receive the message.
The overlap of these two vastly different events—one a cultural tragedy in the West, the other a moment of national pride in one of the world’s most isolated regimes—creates the striking contrast in the symbolism of duality.
Similarly, October 7, 2023, marked a significant event: the large-scale terror attack by Hamas on Israel, igniting a major conflict in the region. This date also coincides with the birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin, born on October 7, 1952 .
The intersection of these events underscores the complex interplay of geopolitical narratives and the symbolic weight dates can carry in global affairs.