Catrin Bolt

Continuous Text

Image Credits

Opening

2013 / reopening: 2021 & 2024

Location

Art in Public Space

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About the
Project

The project was initially conceptualized as a temporary artwork in 2013. In 2021 the project was turned into a permanent installation and in 2024 it was restored. It spans from the Radetzkystraße 8 through the public space of the city of Graz to the Griesplatz.

Catrin Bolt

Continuous Text

Referring to an excerpt from the diary of Graz Chief Rabbi David Herzog, Catrin Bolt applied the concept of her memorial as a textual work. In his notes, David Herzog describes how, on that night in November 1938 which would later go down in history as the November Pogrom, he was violently awakened and brutally driven towards the synagogue. Catrin Bolt places excerpts of this description as text passages on the ground along the entire route that Herzog had to cover from his apartment on Radetzkystrasse to Griesplatz. The actual destination, the synagogue, could not be reached due to the large-scale closure caused by the blaze that destroyed the building.

The urban space, used especially at that time as a place of assertion of power and exclusion, becomes a narrator of its own past. Based on this individual fate, the horrible dimension of inhumane mass madness becomes recognizable and tangible.

technical consultation:

Firma Kansai Helios

Location:

Radezkystraße 8 via the Grieskai, Rosenkranzgasse, Kleegasse and Brückenkopfgasse to the Griesplatz

Image Credits

Historic Background

The November pogroms of 1938 are significant, as it was the first-time the government openly ordered and committed violence against the Jewish community. Thus, large scale assaults committed by both government officials and civilians took place in public space. In Graz the synagogue was set on fire and like many other members of the Jewish community, chief rabbi David Herzog was taken from his home, assaulted in the streets, and threatened with death.

The urban space of public life used especially at that time as a place of assertion of power and exclusion, becomes a narrator of its own past.

Catrin Bolt (*1979)