Structures & Memory (a place called Wurzach) exhibition

ArtHouse Jersey is delighted to announce ‘Structures & Memory (a place called Wurzach)’, an exhibition marking the start of Jersey’s official Liberation 80 anniversary programme. Running from Friday 2 May at ArtHouse Jersey at Capital House, the exhibition has been inspired by the memories and experiences of the Jersey deportees who were sent to a prison camp in a small town called Wurzach (now Bad Wurzach) in southern Germany during World War II.

Working closely with the St Helier Bad Wurzach Partnerschaft, the exhibition more widely explores the legacy of this extraordinary story encountered by Jersey residents and connects it to enduring experiences of displacement, occupation and reconciliation, both from Jersey and internationally. Structures & Memory (a place called Wurzach) features the work of four Jersey artists – composer Emily de Gruchy, documentary photographer Shan O’Donnell, sculptural and performance artists Oliver Le Gresley and Nicole Sheppard – alongside archival materials collected by the families of deportees to Bad Wurzach during the war. The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of events including artists talks and a concert of a newly commissioned musical score by Emily de Gruchy presented at the St Helier Methodist Centre.

Shan O’Donnell (they/them) will be presenting a series of portraits of ex-internees alongside archival images of the parents and children who were deported, displaced and interned. They said: “I feel really honoured to have been given the opportunity to learn from some of the ex-internees and get to know them personally. They are such wonderful people and have been so generous with sharing their stories and time with me. It’s a part of our local history that I admit I knew absolutely nothing about until I was introduced to this project last year. I have learnt so much since then. I’m so glad ArtHouse Jersey has chosen to collaborate with the Bad Wurzach Committee to bring this project to fruition as I feel it’s so important for us to talk more about this part of our history and what an honour it has been to be a small part of this project.”

Emily de Gruchy (she/her) is composing a multi-channel soundscape of archive recordings of music that was played and created in the prison during the internment alongside present-day recordings from the site. She said: “I’m so pleased to be a part of the show as I have always been fascinated with the Second World War – my Poppa lived on Island during the Occupation and used to recount stories to us on Island, but the Internment was something that was not relayed to me until ArtHouse Jersey and the Partnerschaft commissioned me and my colleagues. It was a life-altering thing to read about the experience of the internees, and those words I’ve incorporated into my concert work, and I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like for all.”

Oliver Le Gresley (he/him) will be presenting a sculptural installation drawn from the notebooks and diaries of the deportees held at Jersey Archive to create a dwelling structure that conveys the feeling of the old castle building (Schloss) and its particular architecture in which the prison camp was created. He said: “I am pleased to be part of an exhibition which directs attention to this part of Jersey’s history and was drawn to explore the realities of internment, where social structures and cultural norms are at the same time disrupted and a place of refuge. The Schloss becomes a kind of stage, acts played out in and around it, the scenery doesn’t change so much but the actors and stories come and go, the eyes of the walls observe it all. The experiences of the internees in Wurzach has highlighted the absurdities of war and conflict; disruptive and unnecessary with a legacy of trauma.”

Nicole Sheppard (she/her) is creating a sculptural project that focuses on the theme of ‘reconciliation’ where through the dark experiences of the Occupation there has blossomed a dialogue of exchange. She said: “It’s a really exciting opportunity to be working cross-sectorally within the arts and community. Through delving into the island’s social history I found myself greatly inspired by the partnership (Partnerschaft) of St.Helier and Bad Wurzach. Specifically, the immense efforts of those involved to reconcile. Through humility, communication and hard work five decades of rich cultural exchange and friendship have formed between the people of Jersey, Bad Wurzach and crucially those who faced internment between 1942-1945.”

ArtHouse Jersey’s Head of Programme, James Tyson, said: “ArtHouse Jersey was approached two years ago by the St Helier Bad Wurzach Twinning Committee to discuss the idea of an exhibition to coincide with Liberation 80. This began an ongoing dialogue with the Committee including some former internees with a group of young Jersey artists and which led to a much wider reflection on the significance and wider contemporary resonance of this experience in the teeth of history and how there evolved a remarkable sense of a shared experience which spurred the formal twinning against many odds in 2002. We’d also like to thank Jersey Archive for their cooperation and providing access to their remarkable archive that has been so integral to the making of this exhibition”.

The Bailiff of Jersey, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said: “The Structures and Memories project is part of a wider programme of arts, cultural and heritage activities that have been supported by the Bailiff’s Consultative panel to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Jersey’s Liberation. I am very much looking forward to seeing the work come to life and particularly the evidence of reconciliation it has achieved. We often lose sight of the reach of art and this project, driven by the team at ArtHouse Jersey demonstrates the true capabilities of Art and how it can commemorate and communicate a significant part of Jersey’s war time story.”

Chair of the St Helier and Bad Wurzach Twinning Committee Lola Garvin, said: “It has been a privilege for our Twinning Committee, as well as our little group of former internees, to have been involved with the ArtHouse Jersey team of talented young artists. We have followed as their ideas and inspiration have progressed and taken shape in so many different art forms over the past year. We now look forward to discovering the fruits of their artistic efforts to evoke this life-changing moment of our Island’s history in the hope that its legacy will be passed to a new generation.”

Main picture: Left to right – Shan O’Donnell, Oliver Le Gresley, Emily de Gruchy and Nicole Sheppard