The Displaced

© 2019

The Displaced is a sculpture created by Franz Wassermann for the Südtiroler Siedlung in Telfs, an urban settlement which was originally built by the National Socialists to house German speaking South Tyroleans who were urged to leave South Tyrol by Hitler and Mussolini between 1939 and 1943. Wassermann reacts to these historic events in digging out a willow and re-planting it in the Südtiroler Siedlung upside down. In the following, the tree is entrusted to the care of the residents of the settlement. Much like displaced persons the willow depends on the care and acceptance given by the locals. If the tree develops roots, if it survives with the help of the residents it will provide shadow for them someday – the lively memorial will become a social sculpture.. 

photos: Johannes Brugger, Franz Wassermann

March 2019

May 2020