Ruth Beraha
∗1986, Milan, Italy
In her works, which are mostly installation-based, Ruth Beraha dissects the dynamics behind seemingly immovable social systems. In particular, the artist thematises what appears foreign and frightening, presenting it as close to us and as a constitutive part of our identity. Her installationI ’ll tell you the story I know’(2021), consisted of a sound work and a funnel-shaped aluminium sculpture with a spy mirror on one side and a peephole on the other. Looking at their own reflection in front of the mirror, the audience is subjected to an involuntary interrogation, while the boundaries between consensual seduction and abuse blur. On the opposite side, the peephole allows us to observe the viewers, turning us into voyeurs as well. For The Parliament of Marmots Ruth Beraha developed two installations.In the Hotel Ladinia, she installed the work Fortune’s always hiding, I’ve looked everywhere, consisting of a flock of ceramic birds whose heads disappear behind a crumbling wall. Here, too, the artist works with two points of view: what reality do the birds on the other side of the wall reveal? Through an audio work, Ruth Beraha also transformed a disused theatre hall in the centre of Ortisei into an immersive experience space. Here we hear the sweet song of a little bird, which immediately transports us to an idyllic natural landscape. This is followed by other bird calls: some of indigenous species, others migratory, only passing through Val Gardena.Accompanied by the beating of wings, the voices multiply in an ever louder sound cloud. The menacing power of nature briefly fills the manmade space, transforming it into a dystopian scenario, before the voices disperse once more and only the sweet chirping of the first little bird can be heard. Is the sound of this song still the same asat the beginning, or has our perception of it changed in the meantime? Ruth Beraha leaves possible interpretations open, so that the viewer is prompted to redefine his or her own point of view.
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