Presence during Absence (In Thankfulness of Jean-Richard Bloch)

The location of this collection is Villa Bloch, which previously belonged to the french critic, novelist and playwright Jean-Richard Bloch (1884 – 1947). The place, which hosted some intellectuals, writers and artists who fled the repression of the German and Spanish governments in France during the author's lifetime, was purchased by the City of Poitiers in 2005. Since 2019, one artist at risk in his country has been hosted in Villa Bloch. The City has joigned the ICORN network since 2018. The photos have been taken in spaces where Jean-Richard Bloch was present and an attempt was made to arrange the author's home appliances and personal belongings with the slightest change from his lifetime. Nazanin Bamm, who lives temporary in Villa Bloch as the wife of an exiled Iranian writer and poet, Mohammad Bamm, has tried to represent Bloch’s day and pay tribute to him by portraying the presence of the author and the daughter he lost as a child. It must be said that Solange’s death dealt a severe psychological blow to Jean-Richard Bloch. Nazanin deliberately used her husband and their daughter to record these photos.