LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI

PREPARATION PROCESS Presentations during the preparation process Negotiations, theoretical elaboration FEBRUARY 13, 2003 Little Warsaw at the American University, Cairo

APRIL 28, 2003 Zamek Ujazdowsky, Center for , Warsaw OCTOBER 2002 The Body of Nefertiti is a project of Little Warsaw for the Hungarian APRIL 26, 2003 Pavilion at the 50th . Little Warsaw at Art Moscow, Moscow

MAY 06, 2003 IUAV University, dADI, Venice Professor Dietrich Wildung, director of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussamlung, Berlin with the artists of Little Warsaw, András Gálik MAY 07, 2003 O’artoteca, Milan, and Bálint Havas in front of the bust, and in consultation about the proposal at an office in the Museum. MAY 09, 2003 Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino

MAY 22, 2003 FEBRUARY 2003 Bürofriedrich, Berlin Professor Wildung visits Budapest. Meeting in the Divatcsarnok’s Lotz Hall with the artists, the curator, Zsolt Petrányi and Dr. Ulrich Luft, Egyptologist, ELTE University, Budapest Presentation of the first small-scale version of the sculpture.

The artists with cultural historian and consultant on the project Eszter Babarczy and the curator at the public presentation of the project in Bürofriedrich, Berlin. An original size plaster copy of the Nefertiti bust was sent to Budapest to serve as a model for the body in progress.

“This statue is one of the important sources of European cultural “The [Little Warsaw] became interested in popular and historical history and sculpture, even though it was created outside the symbols, the chance to revitalize them, and put them in continent. Its outsider position adds further meaning to the project of completing: this 3000 years old model of beauty has been contemporary contexts. With such gestures Little Warsaw tries to contributing, ever since it was found and put on public display, to the establish a connection between the present and the temporality of art, European ideal of beauty… the artists who seek connections between as well as its potential for mediation, to get forms that ensure the the past and the present at the down of a new millennium take up a references of the work are comprehensible to more than a selected new position, a lookout point and open, non-Eurocentric system.” minority.” (Petrányi, 2003) (Petrányi, 2003)

Professor Dietrich Wildung speaking at the first public presentation in Berlin. MARCH 2003 The beewax model of the body under construction in the building of Divatcsarnok, which functioned as a sculptor-atelier and a public forum for discussions and exhibitions related to the project.

“Wildung admitted he was baffled at first when the two sculptors came to him with the idea of videotaping the bust sitting on the “Shortly after we contacted the Berlin museum, it became obvious shoulders of their nude statue. But he said he decided it would be in that the Nefertiti bust could not be moved from its present location. line with the museum’s explorations of the influence of ancient art on Little Warsaw’s original intention of presenting the entire modern artists.” configuration in the failed because of cultural- political problems of ownership.” Bryson, Donna: decries ancient bust on modern nude. (Petrányi, 2003) AP, 18 June, 2003 LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI

“Though the feel of ‘permanence’ made the bronze cast lose the UNIFICATION quality, the body remained a shell, with thin covering. The female OF THE BODY AND THE HEAD body thus became a vessel, which, in spite of metal, conveys a message of fragility.” MAY 26, 2003 (Petrányi, 2003) ÄGYPTISCHES MUSEUM UND PAPYRUSSAMMLUNG BERLIN–CHARLOTTENBURG “Gunter Dreyer, director of the German Archaeological Institute, pointed out that the bronze torso was not actually nude but depicted wearing a gown like the ancient statue of Nefertiti. Dreyer said the Bust of Queen Nefertiti institute was not involved in the matter, its only connection with the 1340 B.C. from Thutmose’s workshop Berlin Museum being scientific research, rather than ‘science fiction’. painted limestone, plaster, crystal, wax is ‘very aware of the value of the Nefertiti bust, which it has 49 cm height always protected and preserved over the last century’, Dreyer said.” property of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Nevine El-Aref: Ancient beauty sabotaged. Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Al-Ahram Weekly, June 12, 2003, Issue No. 642 ÄMP Inv. Nr. 21300 “The most controversial of all exhibitions this year was that of the painted bust of the beautiful Queen Nefertiti, which has been on display in solitary, stunningly dramatic surroundings in the Egyptian National Museum in Berlin since it was out of Egypt in 1924. The Little Warsaw | The Body of Nefertiti, 2003 outcry was caused by the decision to allow the bust to be fused to a life-size bronze, 140 x 37 x 25 cm contemporary bronze body created by two Hungarian artists. The in the private collection of Béla Horváth, Budapest result was an outpouring of Egyptian and international anger. The deed was described by Egypt's culture minister Farouk Hosni as an act of sabotage and a reckless, irresponsible and unethical action. “This is the phase in which the work is legitimated, the step that Dietrich Wildung, the Berlin museum's director, on the other hand, distinguishes creation from mere complementation, a symbolic claimed that the placement of Nefertiti's bust atop a bronze torso was ‘performance’ that validates the idea of a statue existing in two parts, but a temporary promotional exercise and that the two Hungarian in two places, by the act of joining these two parts.” artists who sculpted the body meant it as an imaginative model of (Petrányi, 2003) Nefertiti's physical body, which, by itself, would be exhibited temporarily at the Venice Biennale.” Nevine El-Aref: A bountiful year, Al-Ahram Weekly, 25–31 December, 2003, Issue No. 670

“The bronze torso actually met the Berlin bust only for a short “The exquisite painted limestone bust has been on display in solitary, moment,” Mr. Wildung said in a statement. “On May 26 the [torso] stunningly dramatic surroundings at the museum ever since. Two was united with the bust just for a few hours [in an] extraordinary years ago, however, in a highly curious curatorial decision, two moment of pure silence, without the public, exclusivly under the eyes Hungarian artists were allowed to fuse the ancient bust onto a of the artists, the curator and the director of the Egyptian Museum.” contemporary bronze-cast body for a few hours in an attempt to Vasagar, Jeevan: Egypt angered at artists’ use of Nefertiti bust. visualise how Nefertiti's body might have looked like.” the Guardian June 12, 2003 Nevine El-Aref: Antiquities wish list Al-Ahram Weekly, 14–20 July 2005, Issue No. 751

“The short journey from its isolation in a glass case into the world of “The idea was to create a headless statue that alludes to the Nefertiti contemporary art effected a dramatic set of visual images. For a brief but is a distinct and separate work of art, Mr. Wildung said. The moment in the Egyptian Museum, Little Warsaw created a brilliant, headless sculpture in Venice holds the memory of the earlier complex installation piece: while mounted on a contemporary torso, encounter with the Egyptian head in Berlin.” the bust is reflected in the glass case where it normally resides in Eakin, Hugh: Nefertiti's Bust Gets a Body, Offending Egyptians. solitary confinement. Simultaneously seeing the bust as an active New York Times, June 21, 2003 participant in a 21st century work of art and as a reflection in the case that segregates it from other objects and viewers raises a host of serious questions. It also demonstrates how Little Warsaw breathed life into the bust by the simple act of releasing it from a glass cage “The film provides an acute sense of the work being a freestanding and joining it to an elegant body. In short, Little Warsaw’s sculpture, and of its complexity; it reveals more about the position of appropriation and recontextualization of the bust, transforming it the assembled work than photos taken from selected angles.” from an isolated icon to an integral part of a new work of art, (Petrányi, 2003) provided an opportunity for the bust to convey new meanings 4,000 years after Thutmose created it.” Stephen Urice: The Beautiful One Has Come – To Stay, (unpublished The unification process was recorded on beta-video and 16 mm color film. conference paper, with generous permission of the author) LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI

“recording the bust sitting ont he shoulders of their nude statue is in line with the museum’s exploration s of the influence of ancient art VENICE on modern artists…” Hungarian Pavilion, the body on display “legitimate artistic experiment”

“dialogue with contemporary art” “Another strong though mostly overlooked pavilion was , Dietrich Wildung where Little Warsaw (András Gálik and Bálint Havas) presented a film documenting the joining of an ancient and renowned bust of Nefertiti with a body created by the artists. The short and spare film presents a clear idea with layers of historical, political, cultural, and conceptual “A homage to Nefertiti by means of contemporary art” resonance. The economy of means excercised is admirable – and a Dietrich Wildung, the Guardian, June 12, 2003 real rarity in this Biennale” Melissa Dunn, International, 10/2003

“Hommage á Nefertiti is the Hungarian contribution to the 2003 “What Egypt’s reaction to The Body of Nefertiti makes clear, is that a Venice Biennale, thematizing and querying the popularity of the return of the bust to Egypt would place it beyond the reach of Nefertiti bust exhibited in Berlin, through a statue the theme of which contemporary artists such as Little Warsaw. The bust holds utterly no is the lack of the head. The opening on the statue is just appropriate place in current Egyptian religious practice and no appreciable use in for the bust to fit in. The conceptually presented lack of the bust developing or maintaining current Egyptian national identity. Were it endows it with virtual presence, producing a stronger impact than the to be returned to Egypt, it would likely be isolated from the stream of physical unification of the statue and the bust for a few minutes at creative expression to which it can contribute and from which it can the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. The bust is documented separately derive new meaning. from the statue, on a video sequence.” … the bust will be more accessible to living artists and more likely to remain where all great works of art belong – at the heart of the „Hommage á Nefertiti, der ungarische beitrag zur Biennale in Venedig creative enterprises – if it remains in Berlin.” 2003, thematisiert und hinterfragt die Popularität der Berliner Büste der Nofretete durch eine Statue, deren Thema das Fehlen des Kopfes Stephen Urice: The Beautiful One Has Come – To Stay, (unpublished ist. Passgenau ist der Raum für die Büste aus der Statue conference paper, with generous permission of the author) ausgeschnitten. Die progremmatisch vorgetragene Absenz der Büste gibt ihr eine virtuelle Präsenz, die stärker wirkt als die nur wenige Minuten dauernde physische Vereinigung von Statue und Büste im Ägyptischen Museum in Berlin, die in einer getrennt von der Statue gezeigten Videosequenz dokumentiert wurde.“ Dietrich Wildung “I personally removed the bust from its case. The whole atmosphere Hieroglyphen! Der Mythos der Bilderschrift von Nofretete bis was more like the veneration of Nefertiti than an insult to her. Andy Warhol, ed. Iris Wenderholm, SMB DuMont, Berlin, 2005, 59. p Everyone was awed into silence.” Dietrich Wildung, the Independent, June 12, 2003

Little Warsaw | András Gálik and Bálint Havas The Body of Nefertiti, 2003 Life-size bronze with the limestone bust of Nefertiti (1340 B.C.) May 26, 2003, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin–Charlottenburg

The Body of Nefertiti, 2003 16 mm color film, max. 21 min. director: Kristóf Forgács cameraman: András Petrik production: EPS, Budapest, © Little Warsaw

The Body of Nefertiti, 2003 excerpt from the 16 mm film and video recording DVD, 7 min., screening copy LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI

REACTIONS FROM EGYPT

AKHBAR AL-YOUM, JUNE 7, 2003.

“QUEEN NEFERTITI NAKED IN BERLIN MUSEUM” “The proud head of the Beauty of Beauties – for more than 5000 years the symbol of beauty and grace – now sits on the naked body of a woman, after being derided by satanic hands that have no regard for the majesty and value of this masterpiece. It has adorned the halls of the Berlin Museum ever since it was perfidiously stolen by vile hands from the bosom of its motherland, and now it has been distorted in an unprecedented manner.” (editorial)

“I have been officially contacted by many art historians after they had seen some pictures on the internet, but they were unaware of this entire farce. They consider this the insult to Egypt’s history and the defacement of the bust of Queen Nefertiti, both because the bronze body will have harmful effects on the limestone head, and may cause it to crumble, and because a naked body – on which the beautiful head was placed – would not have been accepted by any archaeologist in the world. In my opinion, this museum is not safe for our treasures. The fact that these treasures are to be found in the Berlin Museum, does not mean that we do not concern ourselves about them. We are the ones responsible for the state of the treasures and the respect that is due to them. […] For this reason, Minister of Culture Faruq Hosni contacted the UNESCO’s general director, asking for immediate intervention to stop this disgraceful farce, while I wrote letters to the Egyptian ambassador in Berlin and the German ambassador in Cairo, asking them to intervene in order to stop the assault on Egypt’s national heritage.” NEW YORK TIMES, JUNE 21, 2003 Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General, Permanent Committee of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) “The moral and scientific responsibility of the Egyptian “What has happened to Nefertiti’s bust in the Berlin Museum is the derision of great civilizations and the Museum is at stake here. We greatest crime ever committed against the Egyptian civilization and history.” don’t accept that such an Ali Radwan, former dean of Cairo University's Faculty of Archaeology important statue of Queen Nefertiti has been put in “What has happened is the falsification of facts and reality. […] This is a bust and not the torso of a whole jeopardy for this silly project.” body sculpture. It was made in the Ancient Egypt to be a model for artists when forming sculptures of the queen. It cannot be amended.” Mohamed Saleh, former director of the Grand Egyptian Museum Mohamed al-Orabi, Egyptian ambassador to Berlin “The law of museums prohibits the interference of imagination into supplementing art treasures, and the rule of artistic attitude over history. […] No one has the right to force their own view on the manner of exhibiting such a unique historic art treasure as the sculpture of Queen Nefertiti, which is a masterpiece of Ancient Egyptian art and one of the most beautiful works of art in the world. That is, they have no right to supplement the sculpture with a naked body or anything else, because this does not adorn the sculpture, being beautiful as it is.” Mahmud Mabrouk, head of SCA’s Museums Department

“This farce should be brought to a halt immediately. Archaeologists should make a decision on the kind of punishment to be imposed upon the perpetrators of such provocative behaviour, and we should take decisive steps to stand up against such acts.” Mahmud ad-Dumati, director of the Grand Egyptian Museum

AL-BAYAN, JUNE 9, 2003.

“I agreed with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher that we establish contact at the highest levels with Germany, and lodge a protest against this unethical and ill-considered insanity. Furthermore, that we request the Zahi Hawass is watching the film international community to exercise pressure on Germany. The bust is no longer safe in German hands. We’re portraying the moment in which going to ask for restitution of this statue in light of what has happened.” the bust is fitted on the bronze Faruq Hosni, Egyptian Minister of Culture sculpture “Members of the Cultural- and Media Committee of the Parliament pointed out the fact that what had happened to Queen Nefertiti’s head at the Berlin Museum is none other than the derision of a unique work of AL-AHRAM WEEKLY, JULY 10, 2003, ISSUE NO. 646 art. […] Representatives said that this is a conspiracy against the Egyptian civilization, which refused the “As for Queen Nefertiti, the humiliation done nudity, and the age of the pharaohs is witness to this.” to her will never be forgotten. How the authorities at the Berlin Museum could AL-MUSTAQBAL, JUNE 11, 2003. acquiesce to the idea of thus degrading the “It was András Gálik and Bálint Havas who had formed the naked bronze torso wrapped in a thin cloth. The icon of Egyptian identity is inconceivable. museum’s director affirmed that they had respected the dimensions of Nefertiti. […] Wildung added that the Queen Nefertiti’s bust should be returned to sculpture had been formed in accordance with the types of Egyptian art treasures. From another aspect, he her home – Egypt.” pointed out that several of the works of art exhibited at the Cairo museum also depict naked women, so the Zahi Hawass problem is merely »confused nonsense«.” LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI LITTLE WARSAW | THE BODY OF NEFERTITI

BIBLIOGRAPHY EXHIBITIONS 2003 The Body of Nefertiti, 50th Venice Biennial PETRÁNYI, ZSOLT: The Body of Nefertiti, 50th Venice Biennale, Hungarian Pavilion Hungarian Pavilion Mûcsarnok | Kunsthalle, Budapest, 2003 (brochure) 2004 Hot Destination | Marginal Destiny II., House of Art, Brno 2004 Hot Destination | Marginal Destiny III., Galéria Articles from the Egyptian press (selection) Jána Koniarka, Trnava Akhbar al-Youm, 7 June | http://www.akhbarelyom.org.eg/akhbarelyom/issues/3057/0900.html 2004 The Nefertiti Project, Het Domein, Sittard Al-Bayan, 8 June | http://www.albayan.co.ae/albayan/2003/06/08/mnw/27.htm 2006 Eine Person allein in einem Raum mit Al-Bayan, 9 June http://www.albayan.co.ae/albayan/2003/06/09/mnw/33.htm Coca-Cola-farbenen Wänden, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz Al-Mustaqbal, 11 June | http://www.almustaqbal.com/stories.aspx?CategoryID=12&IssueID=147 SCREENINGS Al-Ahram, 16 June | http://www.ahram.org.eg/archive/2003/6/16/INVE8.HTM Qantara.de, 18 June | http://www.quantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-367/_nr-15/_p-1/i.html 2003 Biennale Office – Divatcsarnok, Budapest ARABIC NEWS: Restoring Queen Nefertiti Statue, Head On Naked Women... Arabic News, 07. 06. 2003 2004 Little Warsaw 2002–2004, Galerija VN, Zagreb (HR) ARABIC NEWS: Nefertiti Display Angers Archeologists. Arabic News, 13. 06. 2003 2004 Little Warsaw 2002–2004, Galerija Balen EL-AREF, NEVINE: Ancient beauty sabotaged. Al-Ahram Weekly, No. 642, 12. 06. 2003 Slavonsky Brod (HR) EL-AREF, NEVINE: A bountiful year, Al-Ahram Weekly, No. 670, 25. 12. 2003 2004 Little Warsaw 2002–2004, Galeria Jána Koniarka EL-AREF, NEVINE: Antiquities wish list Al-Ahram Weekly, No. 751, 14. 06. 2005 Trnava (SK) HAWASS, ZAHI: Tampering with Nefertiti. Al-Ahram Weekly, No. 646, 10. 07. 2003. 2005 Little Warsaw 2002–2005, CAC–Vilnius (LV) 2006 The Peninsula an Artist Film – Video Anthology Articles from the global press (selection) History Museum, Singapore ANDRAS, EDIT: The Projects of The Hungarian Artist Duo Little Warsaw. Springerin, 2/2005 CONFERENCES AP: Art project causes controversy. 6/2003 AP: not Fit for a Queen. CBCNews.com, 17. 06. 2003 2003 Public Art or Public Monument, Art Theory and Media AP: Nefertiti art project sparks furor. The London Free Press, 18. 06. 2003 Research Institute, ELTE University, Budapest AP: Egyptians say Nefertiti display was a bust. 18. 06. 2003 2004 Urice, Stephen: The Beautiful One Has Come – To Stay AFP: Egypt asks for its history back, but its pleas fall on deaf ears. 14. 06. 2003 The Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies of AFP: The two sides of Nefertiti. | www.cairolive.com, 21. 08. 2003 Washington University, Imperialism, Art & Restitution BABARCZY, ESZTER: Birth after the Death. Új Mûvészet, 5/2003 Conference at Washington University School of Law BACH, INGO: Kunstaktion mit nackter Nofretete ärgert Ägypter. Der Tagesspiegel, 10. 06. 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri BERLINER KURIER: Aufregung um die nackte Nofretete. Berliner Kurier, 10. 06. 2003 2005 András, Edit: Education of the artist – Control by BRYSON, DONNA: Setting ancient Nefertiti bust on bronze nude touchess off a tussle. AP, 17. 06. 2003 the art community? S.V.A. Conference, NYC BRYSON, DONNA: Egypt decries ancient bust on modern nude. AP, 18. 06. 2003 2005 Barnabás Bencsik, The Mousetrap, An international BUCCIANTI, ALEXANDRE: Toute nue, la reine Néfertiti bouleverse l'Égypte. Le Monde, 10. 06. 2003 conference on dealing with institutions in contemporary BUDDENSIEG, TILLMAN: Grenz verletzungen. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 15. 07. 2003 curatorial practice, Wyspa Institute of Art, Gdansk DEUTSCHE WELLE: Venice Biennale Opens with Enigmatic German Works. DW-Worlds.com, 15. 06. 2003 BROADCASTING AND DOCUMENTARY FILMS DIE TAGESZEITUNG: ...Nofretete? – Ägypter erregen. Die Tageszeitung, 10. 06. 2003 DITTMAR, PETER: Juwel vom Nil. Berliner Morgenpost, 10. 06. 2003 2003 Stefanowsky, Michael (ed.): Interview with Dr. Dietrich DITTMAR, PETER: Goodby, Nofretete?. Berliner Morgenpost, 10. 06. 2003 Wildung after the Unification. ZDF Television DPA: Ägyipten fordert Nofretete wieder zurück. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11. 06. 2003 2003 Harris, Emily: Nefertiti. 'Weekend Edition' DUNN, MELISSA: The Venice Biennale: Slouching Toward Utopia. Flash Art International, 10/2003 NPR Radio, 06. 07. 2003 EAKIN, HUGH: Nefertiti's Bust Gets a Body, Offending Egyptians. New York Times, 21. 06. 2003 2003 Nackte Nofretete, 'Kulturzeit', 3Sat, 13. 06. 2003 FORBES, DENNIS: KMT, vol.14, No.3 Fall 2003 2004 Davies, Karen: Pharaoh’s Revenge – Egypt’s Lost Treasures. FOWKES, MAJA & REUBEN: Displaced Monuments and Deconstructive Strategies. Umelec International, 3/2005 Stewart Prod., Discovery Channel, 49’37” HADIK, ANDREA: Nofretete – auf ungarishe „Art”. Budapester Rundschau, 21. 05. 2003 The Nefertiti-project, documentary video HANSEN, LOTTE: Nofretete auf eigenen Füßen. Berliner Morgenpost, 31. 05. 2003 director: Kristóf Forgács, production: EPS, Budapest HANSEN, LOTTE: Nofretete auf eigenen Füßen. Die Welt, 31. 05. 2003 (unfinished) HALÁSZ, TAMÁS: Nefertiti’s body: Hungary at the Biennale. Budapest Week, 7/2003 HOCHMEYER, BORIS: Retourkutsche aus Cairo. Art, 8/2003 JLAU: Ägypten sorgt sich um Nofretete. Die Welt, 10. 06. 2003 KOCH, BETTINA: War Nofretete nackt? Bunte, 26. 06. 2003 CARMICHAEL, LACHLAN: Bust of Queen Nefertiti sparks Egypt’s anger. 14. 06. 2003 PREUSS, SEBASTIAN: Kopf und Körper. Berliner Zeitung, 10. 06. 2003 PATERSON, TONY: Egypt vents fury at German museum for using Nefertiti bust in ’pornographic’ video. 12. 06. 2003 STEYN, JULIET: Reviews A Chance Encounter. Third Text, Routledge, Volume 18, Number 4, July 2004 SAPA–DPA: Ancien Egyptian beauty sparks a war of words. | www.iol.co.za, 10. 06. 2003 TONIDES, ALEX: Stirring Up the Past. Egypt Today, September/2003 VASAGAR, JEEVAN: Egypt angered at artists’ use of Nefertiti bust. The Guardian 12. 06. 2003 VETROCQ, MARCIA E.: Venice Biennale. Art in America 10/2003 NBK Neuer Berliner Kunstverein Chausseestrasse 128 | 129 10115 Berlin-Mitte Tel +49 30 280 70 20 | Fax +49 30 280 70 19 [email protected] | www.nbk.org edited by Barnabás Bencsik selection from Egyptian press, edited and translated by Ádám Mestyán english translation by Dániel Sipos designed by drez | solid photography © Little Warsaw | Lenke Szilágyi | Zsolt Petrányi

Published by NBK | ACAX–Hungarofest All right reserved © Little Warsaw and the authors

Published for Treffpunkt | Meeting Point NBK on March 22, 2006 related to the exhibition High-Angled Lowland – Current Art from Hungary, March 10 – April 23, 2006, as the supplement of the catalogue.