The Mothers
A group sings mourning songs and lullabies while spinning in a circle, referencing a work about the mothers in WWII.
Referencing Käthe Kollwitz's woodcut “Die Mütter” (1922/23), Isaac Chong Wai has developed a 2 channel video, installed back-to-back on a metal pole, commissioned by ifa-Galerie Berlin. The performers move in a circle and sing lines from songs, including dirges and lullabies in various languages directed by musician Dagmar Aigner, who has been working with mourners for over 10 years in Munich. Revolving around the ideas of death, birth and motherhood, the work, named after Kollwitz’s woodcut, responds to the rhythm of histories marked by wartime experiences and places the grief engendered by Kollwitz into a transnational discourse.
Die Mütter, 2022
Isaac Chong Wai
2 channel video
Commissioned by ifa-Galerie Berlin
Music Director: Dagmar Aigner
Camera Operator: Lana Immelman
Sound: Nobutaka Shomura
Singers: Dagmar Aigner, Paola Eleonora Bascon, Isaac Chong Wai, Zaki Hagins, Alena Magdalena, Sarai Baranco Merodio, Karin Mühlhoff, Eva Robayo, Nobutaka Shomura, Leela Tinelli, Winifred Wong
Photo by Victoria Tomaschko
Photo credit: © Victoria Tomaschko