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„Warte Mal!“ Ann– Sofi Sidén When the border opened between the Czech Republic and Germany, a local center for prostitution developed in the Czech town of Dubi, 6 km away from the border. The women who work here, partly on their own, partly under pimps, come from all the different countries of Eastern and Central Europe. The title of Ann-Sofi Sidén's video work, "Warte mal!" ("Wait a minute!"), is what the women call out to stop cars and seek clients. Between February and October 1999, Sidén stayed again and again in Dubi at the Motel Hubert. On various occasions she created portraits of the women, including Liba, Marcela, Andrea and Eva; the clients, the local police in front of pictures of missing women, the pimps, or the motel owners, Katja and Honza, with the camera. In her accompanying diary she tells of the everyday life of everyone involved in prostitution. The appearance of the customers, alcohol, beatings, jealousy, bans on talking, competition with other bars, the gypsies, who also have girls and sell hairpieces and clothing to the women on the side, are all as much a part of the stories as film shots and stories of swimming in the lake. The single parts of this work consist of individual portraits and thematic observations. It is due to Sidén's long stay and numerous conversations that a very personal relationship to the people emerges, highlighted by the use of a hand camera and the purposely simple aesthetic that corresponds to this ordinariness. In its focus on one place, this work also exemplifies the new intersections at the borders between the former communist states and more western Europe, as well as the hard structural differences between the regions and countries concentrated here in the constellation of customer – prostitute. Artist, born 1962, lives and works in Berlin. |
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