BURKHARD SCHITTNY, Fineart

heroes info

HEROES
LEGACY PROJECTS 2023

INSTALLATION VIEW (mockups)
framed inkjet prints / 75 x 60 cm / 30 x 24 in / 7 + 2AP
framed inkjet prints / 125 x 100 cm / 49 x 39 in / 7 + 2AP
framed inkjet prints / 175 x 140 cm / 69 x 55 in / 7 + 2AP

INTRODUCTION

HEROES – The End of Colonial Heroism
A photographic project on the politics of monuments.

Classical monument sculpture is designed to eternalise power. Cast in marble or bronze, monuments elevate selected individuals above society and transform political authority, military violence and colonial domination into objects of reverence.

Today, these monuments—particularly those rooted in colonial history—have become sites of intense public conflict. As Burkhard Schittny observes, “with the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol, we have entered a post-heroic age.” His photographic series HEROES, developed as part of the ongoing Legacy Projects, critically examines how public memory continues to reproduce and legitimise historical power structures—an issue sharpened by contemporary debates around racism, colonialism and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Many of these monuments may soon disappear from public space. HEROES therefore records them at a moment of historical transition.

Schittny focuses on statues of colonial and military figures whose careers were built on imperial violence and domination. Rather than documenting them as heritage objects, he interrogates the political, social and visual mechanisms through which monuments produce authority.

At the centre of the project is a deliberate photographic intervention. The figures are removed from their pedestals and presented at eye level. Isolated against a black background, they appear in life-size scale, in long shots as well as in precise close-ups and fragments. The perspective traditionally imposed by monumental sculpture is reversed.

For the first time, viewers encounter these figures face to face. The elevated, distant and heroic viewpoint gives way to an intimate and confrontational encounter. Traces of weathering, bird droppings and graffiti remain visible, underscoring the fragility of the heroic image.

Through photographic precision, Schittny exposes these figures as historical perpetrators while simultaneously dismantling their monumental authority. The accompanying captions name the individuals and situate their actions within wider histories of colonial rule and state violence, while explicitly acknowledging the experiences of those who suffered under these regimes.

HEROES does not seek to preserve monuments in their traditional heroic framing, but to open them to critical re-interpretation and to re-imagine their meaning within today’s public spaces.

Marc Peschke, 2023