Democracies 2009

2h 26min Director: Artur Żmijewski

Democracies is a multi-part work consisting of twenty short documentaries exploring moments of collective fervour in public spaces. It can be shown either on a sequence of monitors or as a large projection, and is number one in an edition of three. The subjects of the videos range from political demonstrations and military parades to memorial services and football matches. The range of events is deliberately broad, featuring the Loyalists’ Parade on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in Belfast, protests in the West Bank against the Israeli occupation, and the funeral of the far right Austrian politician Jörg Haider in Vienna. Each segment is presented without commentary, leaving the viewer to form his or her own impression of the unfolding events.