119-minute circle. The International Congress at the Whitechapel Gallery

During this performance Renata Jaworska invited members from thirteen different nations to gather around the installation created by Polish artist Goshka Macuga for her exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in 2010. In it, Macuga turned Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation at the United Nations (UN) Security Council on February 5 2003 — when the tapestry reproduction of Guernica was covered - as a basis for reflecting on the importance of specific locations.

Thus, and with Guernica in the background, each of the participants in 119-minutes circle. The International Congress at the Whitechapel Gallery was in charge of reciting her national anthem individually, and then repeating it again but in unison. Then a cacophony was created that sought to delve not only into the lack of communication and the struggles of hearing power, but also into those that are created between national identities and individualism from nationalist ideologies. An attention, in short, towards the "now", that is, as the artist explains, "with its particular lack of communication among people and the feeling of loss experienced by many...".