VITORIA-GASTEIZ.- The epic and yet tender nature of Collins's panoramic photographs is also reflected in her films: The Mine, Parallel and Current history (commissioned by the Fundación “la Caixa”) are rich, complex explorations into the power of location. These films and photographs, including works created in Spain, France, England, Italy and South Africa, are combined in a number of different ways in order to tackle one of the crucial questions of our time: What is the meaning of the word “home” in a world dominated by unpredictable forces?

The poetic and, at the same time, political art of Hannah Collins, responds to our need for forms of expression that can be both private and public. It is a form of art with a realist inclination that describes the complexities of the world just as it is, but with an underlying desire for a better one.

ARTIUM, Basque Centre-Museum of Contemporary Art, and Fundación “la Caixa”, present the exhibition Hannah Collins. Current history (North Gallery, from October 23 to January 11 2009). The exhibition includes the projection of three multiscreen films, The Mine, Parallel and Current history, the title of the exhibition, and 20 panoramic photographs by this British artist who lives in Barcelona. Collins seeks a number of different scenarios (a gypsy settlement, a small city in Central Russia, the geography of emigration) to ask a series of questions about people will have been uprooted from their social environment, the difficulty of combating loneliness and establishing bonds of friendship. With great realism, the poetic and, at the same time, political works of Hannah Collins describe a complex world and the same time express a wish for a better one. Current history is a production of Fundación “la Caixa with ARTIUM (Vitoria-Gasteiz).

After dedicating the early part of their artistic career to sculpture and painting, Hannah Collins (London, 1956) became known on the international art scene as a pioneer in the field of photography, with works created on a monumental and intimist scale at the same time. Collins has tackled a wide range of different subjects although all of them reflect the same basic concerns: the fleetingness of modern life, the interrelationship between memory and history, and the wish to express these intangible experiences in images. For this artist, filmmaking represented the opportunity to break into new areas, to speak to people and to bear witness to their reality.

The mine
In 2001, Hannah Collins and her team made a 24-hour long film in 35 mm in a large area of Barcelona inhabited mainly by the Gypsy community. The film that resulted from this work fell halfway between a documentary based on observation and an approach based more on acting and collaboration, as some of the people who appear in the film play themselves. Although some of the scenes were planned ahead of time and were played according to a script, other situations arose spontaneously and were captured on film.

The Mine flees from the idea of a single viewpoint. In this sense, it avoids standard portraits offering a narrow viewpoint of life in one of today's Gypsy communities. Instead, Collins builds a complex, intricate and rhythmic film based on repetitive motifs and the symbolism of the city itself. Moving away from habitual filmmaking techniques and conventional documentaries, The Mine presents viewers with an attractive social, aesthetic, political and, the same time, ethical puzzle.

Parallel
Parallel is a film based on the challenge of showing the international migrations of different ethnic groups, which is so representative of contemporary life. Collins uses three screens to describe three very different experiences in time and physical space, within the context of immigration. Parallel tells the story of three people. Dewa, from a small village in Cameroon, risks her life in order to get to Madrid. She speaks French and is studying Spanish, but encounters many difficulties in her search for stability. Pamela belongs to an extended family from Uganda and lives with her husband, an Italian diplomat in Rome. She is ambitious and independent and works for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome and Paris. Constantine arrived in London eight years ago from the Ivory Coast. She is divorced and lives with her seven -year-old son. She is member of an evangelical church to which she dedicates most of her life.

Parallel avoids cold statistics and inflamed political rhetoric about the current flows of emigrants towards the "heart of Europe". Instead, Collins offers a film that is both a series of portraits of individuals and a broader snapshot of the socio economic situation.

Current history
Current history presents one day in the life of the Chiline family and of other inhabitants of Beshencevo, which lies on the outskirts of Nizhny Novgorod, in central Russia. Here we can see the contrast between the structure of the pre Soviet village and the worn-out post-Soviet city. The current situation in Russia is neither stable nor predictable. We discover that every member of the family adapts to the changes that are taking place in a different way. Against a background of distant political and almost abstract decisions there is the consolation of gambling, religion and superstition. The few children who remain in the village receive a traditional education, but they have few opportunities of knowing all the powers that rule their lives and their personal choices.

Edouard, member of the Chiline family, saw Collins's work in Amsterdam and invited the artist to visit his village. Following an initial visit, she returned there in the depths of winter, with her entire team. She filmed for 14 days using a script written by Edouard himself and other inhabitants of the village. The seven hours of film obtained in this way have been edited in two different versions, one to be shown in art galleries and another in cinema format.