“I KNOW THE SMILE, BUT I DO NOT KNOW THE LADY”

On Sunday, July 7th at 2 PM, the art installation “The Unknown” opens at Østermarie Square – an exhibition with photography, text, and sound by photo artist Anne Lass and documentarian Jón Hallur Stefánsson in collaboration with Østermarie Local Archive and graphic designer Christian Kirk-Jensen. The exhibition is open all summer and is the first part of this local history art project – part two is a photo and sound walk for Bornholm Culture Week in September 2024.

The exhibition at Østermarie Square is based on the Local Archive’s folder “Unknown Persons,” which contains older photographs of people who likely once had ties to the town. During the spring of 2024, the artists asked various Østermarie residents to imagine the stories behind each photo. The exhibition consists of 9 enlarged portraits mounted on boards, which also display phone numbers. By calling these numbers, one can listen to 9 short audio stories where current town residents imagine the lives of these unknown individuals.