Guernica Revisited (2002), 10m00s

commission: Réseaux des arts médiatiques with support from the Statens Kunstfond (Denmark)

April 27, 1937 was another traditional Monday market day in the small Spanish village of Guernica when German warplanes emerged in the sky above. Church bells rang as Guernica was bombed relentlessly for over three hours, leaving the town devastated and up to one third of its civilian population dead. The town burned for three days.

In support of General Franco’s fascist forces, Hitler’s Luftwaffe had chosen Guernica for “target practice” in perfecting the war machine that would soon play a major part in the coming world war. The plane’s machine guns cut down townspeople as they ran from crumbling buildings. Over 32 tons of high explosive bombs were dropped on the village in the world’s first saturation bombing raid on a civilian target. Inspired by this terrible event, Picasso’s famous mural Guernica was commissioned by the Spanish Republican government for the 1937 International Exposition in Paris.

Guernica Revisited is similarly inspired by the unfathomable horror, cruelty, terror and destruction of war: a topic that sadly seems to be ever relevant. Guernica Revisited was commissioned by Réseaux with support from the Danish Arts Foundation.

Performances

		iConcerts (Saison 1: 2003) Monday, May 5, 2003 iConcert 3 (Boucher + Siegel + M Tremblay)
		Rien à voir (12) Wednesday, September 11, 2002 Wayne Siegel: The Terror of War • premiere