No Show, 2004
Video PAL, colour, sound, 25'
Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris (France)
It was mere coincidence that I found out about the tours given in the Hermitage during the Second World War. This was quite a special event, as a precaution against possible war damage, the Hermitage's many thousands of art treasures were taken away for safekeeping, where they remained until 1944. Only the empty frames of the paintings were left on the wall. Soldiers were deployed to move the art works. In 1943, a guide showed a group of soldiers through the vacant rooms of the Hermitage. As he led the men past the empty frames he described from memory the paintings by Fra Angelico, Rembrandt and other luminaries from the history of European painting which until recently had hung on these walls. After an intensive research period that followed this finding, which included reading and investigating in the Hermitage libraries and archives and speaking to witnesses, I managed to reconstruct parts of one tour in this film, creating a compelling and poignant film about memory, representation and love of art.
Because the work itself is quite minimal, I was left with many unique details about the cultural life in the museum during WWII which were interesting and important in their own right, but of no relevance to the story of the film. As the archives of the Hermitage are not open to the public, I felt this information was too precious to keep locked away, so I wrote, produced and designed a book accompanying the film, containing all the information I came across during my research.
Melvin Moti
