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WE PARAPOM! Planting Seeds for the Impossible In the project WE PARAPOM! – a Collective European Parade of Apple Trees, Barbara Holub questions the role of (political) parades as an expression of power and at the same time suggests that we reflect on: what would happen if apple trees, and not people, were in the position to make decisions? What impact would this have on climate issues, migration, working conditions, etc.? The images of the apple and the parade reveal the main current problems of our society. WE PARAPOM! Planting Seeds for the Impossible aims to inspire a fairer, ecologically committed sociopolitical idea by focusing on the subject of human and, specifically, labour migration. In the Austrian state of Styria, a significant proportion of apple pickers are of Roma origin, mainly from Bulgaria or Romania. They undertake this activity, frequently under difficult working conditions—so that the apples can migrate throughout Europe. But to this day, the Roma, Sinti, and Lovarа migrants are pushed to the periphery of society. Expressly for the exhibition, Barbara Holub created an installation from discarded glass lamp globes, which were painted by members of the Romani and other communities in Vienna with their personal interpretations of apple seeds. The flamboyant seeds symbolise the ‘macro-utopia’ of a more just society. The glass globe—an attribute of divination often practiced by the Roma—is a central element of the installation, which, positioned to allow different perspectives of observation, offers a glimpse into a common future, without borders, without division and exclusion. The glowing glass spheres, interlinked, transform the ‘parade’ into a network of diverse relationships—gatherings of individuals that also provide space for those who do not fit into the norm. They form a collective body, a ‘parade of the many’, of ‘multiplicity within a unity’ (as formulated by Leibniz in 1714 in ‘Monadology’), that is enriched with texts by the Romani author Ilija Jovanović and by Barbara Holub. In collective settings (accompanied by readings of texts by Roma author Ilija Jovanović), the glass spheres were painted by Ljiljana Marinkovic, Mia Marinkovic, Florencia Camara and Barbara Holub. * Barbara Holub’s project WE PARAPOM! was a flagship project for the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, launched in 2021 but cancelled in May 2023. |
What Connects Us The National Gallery, Sofia Arsenal - Museum of Contemporary Art Opening: April 24, 2025 Exhibition: April 24–June 22, 2025 Curated by: Ilina Koralova Artists: Anton Stoianov, Barbara Holub, Benjamin Badock, Margret Hoppe, Marta Djourina, Slav Nedev, Vasilena Gankovska, Veronika Tzekova WE PARAPOM! Planting Seeds for the Impossible was realized in collaboration with the Romano-Centro Vienna. Thanks to Danijela Cicvaric. |