“Blue skies” exhibition: reflection on collective trauma and remembrance in 1078 photos

Open to the public from Monday to Friday, 23 January – 9 February, from 9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., at UNESCO Paris, in the Pas Perdus Hall. 

How do we witness, process pain and choose to remember? As part of the programme to mark the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, UNESCO is organizing a multimedia exhibition “Blue skies” reflecting on collective trauma and remembrance. 

Acclaimed Belgian artist Anton Kusters spent six years photographing empty blue skies above Nazi concentration and extermination camps across Europe - locations where millions were killed, yet little physical evidence remains today. These places of persecution existed from 1933 to 1945 (4432 days) in a highly organized system of imprisonment, forced labor, and murder. 

His abstract yet hard-hitting collection of 1078 blue sky images, each stamped with coordinates and victim numbers, is accompanied by a 4432-day long sound installation by artist Ruben Samama. “The Tracking of One Thousand and Seventy-eight Blue Skies” generates a unique tone for each of the camps' victims. Continuously looping silent video “There is Nothing Here” showing Kusters arriving and leaving Nazi sites of persecution highlights the eerie absence of tangible remains across these locations.  

The "Blue Skies" project is curated by Monica Allende. The exhibition receives the generous support of the Permanent Delegations of Belgium and Germany to UNESCO.

Please kindly note that there is a security check at the entrance to the UNESCO building. A valid ID document is required for access.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact gced@unesco.org