"Jeśli my zapomnimy, kto będzie pamiętał?"

Dzieło sztuki jako manifestacja postpamięci

Abstract

“If We Forget, Who Will Remember?” Work of Art As a Manifestation of Post-Memory

The text is an attempt to determine the relationship between post‑memory (or – in other words – “vicarious memory”) and art. Particular attention is given to visual arts. The works of artists of the younger generation, such as Libera, Bałka, Żmijewski, and to some extent Betlejewski, who explored the memory of the Shoah, were discussed. Their works can be considered a form of manifestation of post‑memory. Assuming that the analysis of artistic phenomena is not possible without reference to the social context in which art is created and its social responsibility, the works of these artists were confronted with the material traces of memory (including Jedwabne, Kolno, Jeleniewo) that shape the social background of artistic creativity, its reception and debate about it.