2. Civic and political engagement
Paul Henry Spaak’s portrait by Fabian Edelstam, a poster of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought (1993’sedition), and Josef Antall’s typewriter – witness to the intellectual and political activity of its owner -, they all refer to paradigmatic characters representative of the fight for freedom and democratic values in Europe: illustrious examples of how the commitment, tenacious work and leadership of certain political figures constitute essential elements for parliamentary democracy to be instituted and to prosper.
Artworks
Fabian EDELSTAM: Portrait of Paul-Henri Spaak, 2014 – On display in Parlamentarium, Brussels
Paul GRAHAM: Untitled, Belfast (concrete bench), 1988 – On display in Parlamentarium, Brussels
Jörg IMMENDORFF: Wähle, 1979 – On display in Parlamentarium, Brussels
Democracy needs its heroes, not only the public and notorious, but also the anonymous ones, like the ordinary people starring in the photographic corpus of Paul Graham; people often captured in an apparently casual and spontaneous way, on the street or indoors. In the Art Collection’s photograph, those same people are present, paradoxically, through their absence in a humble corner of the city of Belfast, occupied by a simple cement bench.
On the other hand, the gouache Wähle! (1979), – by Jörg Immendorff – a painter who understood art as a corrective to social and political grievances – is part of the time when he produced his most famous pictorial series, Cafe Deutschland (1977-1982) -. This small work on paper – Wähle! – is a passionate exhortation to freely speak out and choose between various alternatives, thus pointing to active participation in matters that concern civic life.