Daniel Rycharski
"Vera Icon"

Once a monument is unveiled, it’s usually covered up only when renovation or conservation works are required.This doesn’t mean, however, that monuments remain unchanged in the meantime.

The practice of decorating monuments by adding text or temporary visual elements, as is the case during national or religious holidays, is a practical form of memorialising. The “Vera Icon” is an attempt at a contemporary enacting of such practices on an independent basis.The project makes reference to religious traditions of faithful depictions and true representation that has not been ‘made by human hand’, which are meant to come about spontaneously, like the shroud of Saint Veronica – as a result of the body’s own impression.

Daniel Rycharski reinterprets and updates these traditions of faith and representation in the spirit of ‘irreligious Christianity’.The artist believes it to be the only path to rescuing important values in our time. The stretch of canvas, which takes the form of a cloak or a sheet, weaves together the destinies of those who have exercised solidarity – those Vera Icon who made an effort to help migrants in the Roya valley in Southern France – and the destinies of those who benefitted from their help.The sheet was made by sewing together the clothing of those who have been saved with those who have assisted them, mixing these various experiences together to create a collective monument to this temporary community of people. The materials used in the making of this piece were collected along the way from Italy to France, through the mountains and settlements that lie just beyond the border. Some of the residents of these areas indulge in what is known as délit de solidarité (crime of solidarity) as they offer assistance to those whose lives are often in danger, migrants who have traveled in search of a better life. They provide this assistance in opposition to prevailing laws and customs, risking social and criminal consequences as a result.