Dessa, or the Art of Memory in Theresienstadt
Swissinfo 5 November 2002
The Swiss artist Dessa exhibits in Terezin, in the Czech Republic, a town sadly known for its past as the concentration camp of Theresienstadt.

Dessa, a Swiss artist born in Zimbabwe to Jewish parents, from Poland and Hungary.
Dessa, or the musicality of the canvas Dessa and her "meeting" with Viktor Ullmann Dessa, speaking about the concentration camp Theresienstadt.

Viktor Ullmann was born in 1898 in Silesia. Pianist, composer and Professor, he was also the director of the Zurich Schauspielhaus from 1929 to 1931. In 1942, he was arrested and deported to Theresienstadt, a town transformed into a concentration camp by the Nazis. After two years of internment, he was deported to Auschwitz and murdered two days after arrival. However, in Theresienstadt, where numerous artists were imprisoned, the Jewish composer continued to create. It is there that he composed his Piano Sonata No 7. * The exhibition that Dessa presents as of November 7 in Terezin is titled "A Legacy from Theresienstadt".

"Viktor Ullmann must have wanted to leave the this work's message as a gift, or as a force, because he knew very well that he was going to die. I intend the word "legacy" in this sense".

A long and profound story
For many years Dessa has been painting from compositions of music as her inspiration. Gustav Mahler, Olivier Messiaen, Ernest Bloch, Leonard Bernstein, Nino Rota, Bela Bartok, Erich Korngold…
With Viktor Ullmann, her work attains an additional dimension, even though she did not realise this immediately: "This music evoked so many images and emotions in me. But I was unaware of what its power would to do to me personally. The story goes, therefore, far beyond the fifteen months of painting necessary to complete the art," Dessa remembers.
The story is, indeed, far longer. Dessa was born in Zimbabwe to Polish and Hungarian parents, both Jewish. And her grandparents perished in Auschwitz. Hence, the resonance of the Ullmann trajectory is so profound.

From personal considerations to the duty of remembrance
"A sort of personal therapy, states Dessa. This music made me realise that I had never asked myself certain existential questions."
"For example, the loss of my grandparents in Auschwitz, what did this do to me? I realise it did a lot, on an unconscious level. The way I grasp the world is printed, in a certain manner, in the history of my people."
Because above oneself, there are the others: "Whilst painting from this music, I was reacting to an inner need. I had absolutely no idea of the importance this would present for others."
"I felt I had a responsibility, not only to Viktor Ullmann, but also to my grandparents and other people". And Dessa speaks of informing "about those who had the courage and will, in this camp, to continue to create."

A long chain of friendship
In 1995, the artist, who lives near Lausanne, discovers the composition of Viktor Ullmann. In 1997, a gallery in Basel exhibits her work after which it is presented in Geneva, in Saarbrücken, for the centenary of the composer, and, more recently, in the Berliner Dom (the Berlin Cathedral).
A book is also published, presenting the artist's work and the context of Theresienstadt. And it is this book that Mark Ludwig discovers, in the United States. Mark Ludwig, director of the Terezin Chamber Music Foundation based in Boston, an organisation to promote the compositions of those composers interned in Thersienstadt.
It is thanks to him that the exhibition was held - as well as the accompanying concert on November 7th. An event with patronage by the Embassy of Switzerland and above all, much local support. In spite of the floods just two months before, and the terrible damage caused, the Direction of the Terezin Memorial insisted on holding the event. "I realise that nothing happens by chance. I am following a path that is traced for me, but I also participate in tracing it myself" Dessa remarks. Presenting her work in Terezin, the exact place where Ullmann wrote his composition, what can she hope for? "It unites a long chain of friendship, people from the United States, from Europe, Israel and even Brazil around the project. I expect nothing else besides the assertion that the music is still alive, and that it will always unite us. That's quite a lot, already."

Swissinfo/Bernard Léchot 5 . 11. 2002
* Remark by Dessa : the parents of Viktor Ullmann were Jews who converted to Catholicism. Viktor Ullmann was a member of the Rudolph Steiner Anthroposophy movement.