Sequencing and Final Relay-Text

Trying to finalise my sequence for my body of work can be exasperating when the work has been so prominent in my mind for the last two years. Some times I just can't even look at it as it has all become so familiar. I need to finish off the work, get the sequence sorted, and find a final piece of relay-text for the last image. This was proving to be the most difficult part. I decided I needed a break as I just was not feeling at all creative.

But it is amazing how 24 hours can be enough for a complete turnaround and the creative breakthrough came when I was emptying the dishwasher. This snippet from Josef’s diary was tucked away in my brain just waiting to be seized upon. It seems so obvious to me now but it was buried amongst loads of research material. My final image in the sequence will have the following relay-text:

‘Amerikaner gekommen’ (Americans came).

Extract from the personal diary of Josef Kohout, 25/4/1945.

The arrival of the American forces was, of course, welcomed by the homosexual prisoners after so much torture and degradation. But it was also a false dawn. Homosexual men were not able to claim compensation from the German government after the war like other groups of concentration camp prisoners. Some men were even sent back to prison to complete their sentences for the 'crime' of homosexuality. The time spent in the camps had no bearing on their length of sentence; unlike the Nazi camp guards whose time spent in the camps was counted towards their pension! Just stop and think about that fact for a moment!

In the decade after the war western governments stance on homosexuality as a criminal offence actually tightened and many men who were traumatised and criminalised were not able to speak out about their inhumane treatment. They had to suffer in silence until Gay political groups began to fight for their rights and speak out against injustice.

I may need to include this information in the handout at the end of the image sequence as I don't want the impression to be formed by viewers who might think that liberation of the camps put an end to oppression; but at the same time I think the works needs some glimmer of hope and an uplifting end to the sequence - and the men were undoubtedly overjoyed to be rescued from the shocking abuses they'd been subjected too.