'Nostalgia'

Once seen as an illness, in the twentieth century nostalgia began to be recognized as a mental condition. Today’s nostalgia mirrors the characteristics of contemporary times: it is a fluid, ever changing, fragmented hybrid of homesickness, sentiment and irony, called ‘reflective nostalgia’ in the subject’s literature. In the western emigration-driven societies, a nostalgic person lives in two separate worlds - the past and the present, with no or little connection between the two.

 

The project Nostalgia (2009)  calls up, redefines and explores the phenomenon of nostalgia. It is a video-based installation that aims at raising awareness about the importance of preserving collective memory of the past in order to maintain and strengthen this connection. The two authors of the project, Rebecca Simons & Aleksandra Kononiuk, themselves victims of nostalgia, document the quest for regaining connection to their past. They also demonstrate that nostalgia can be used as an excuse to explore one’s roots, to finally accept and unite the split emigration reality.