Groundwork, Cornwall
2018
June 8–July 8, 2018
The multi-part installation The Silence of Ani (2015) by Francis Alÿs was included in Groundwork, an annual program organized by CAST (the Cornubian Arts & Science Trust), in Cornwall, England. Taking place across West Cornwall and curated in 2018 by Teresa Gleadowe, Groundwork presented new commissions and acclaimed works with an emphasis on sound, moving image, and performance.
First shown in the 14th Istanbul Biennale and now part of the Centre Pompidou collection, The Silence of Ani relates to a project Francis Alÿs undertook along the Armenian-Turkish border in 2015. The installation is composed of a monochrome video with a diptych, a painting, a drawing, and an archive consisting of seventy birdcalls, as well as ephemera including notes, studies, and photos. "Once upon a time Ani was one of the most important cities of the Middle Ages," Alÿs explains, "People called it ‘The City of the 1001 Churches’ and it competed in size and beauty with Constantinople and Jerusalem. But at the turn of the first millennium nomads coming from Central Asia invaded Ani. Sieges, sackings and more invasions followed . . . People started abandoning the city, until all life left and silence fell upon Ani. This all happened many years ago, what are we to do now? Is there something other than silence?"