Post-Soviet Moldova is no longer being chronicled: since 1986 the country’s National Archive, which for many decades under the Soviet Union systematically documented daily and public life through film and photographs, has stopped doing so as if the country had ceased to exist, as if it had disappeared from History. The intention of the project in progress, Odyssey MD-2010, is to document a year in the life of Moldova to compensate for the removal and lack of memory of the small republic, which has undergone radical changes over the past quarter of a century.

The changing identity of a nation is mirrored in the difficulty of orienting the identities of single individuals, and the history of a country is reflected in personal identity. The theme weaves it way through Pavel Braila’s work in the form of a reflection on ways to document, archive and narrate reality. The two levels continually intertwine in his work, and in all the pieces on show, until they reach autobiography, from the neon works Fear is Shorter than Fervour (2008) and Want (2008) to the videos Kick Off (2010) and Recalling Events (2001), up to the series of paintings My Father's Dreams (2008), an ironic representation of the aspirations of the artist's father, who would have liked his son to have been, among other things, an astronaut, in this way exposing the visions of an era in private dreams.


Pavel Braila was born in Chisinau (Moldova) in 1971. He lives and works in Berlin and Chisinau.
In 2002 he participated in Documenta 11, with the video Shoes for Europe. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Among his solo exhibitions: 2010 Pavel Braila, National Museum Brukenthal, Romania; "Kick-Off” Artra, Milan; 2009 “Source”, Jan Dhaese, Gent; 2008 Want, Yvon Lambert Paris; 2007 Baron’s Hill, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam, The Netherlands; Kiasma - Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; 2006 Baltic Art Center, Visby; Galerie Im Taxispalais, Innsbruck; “Slow Poetry of Life Performance”, Jan Dhaese, Gent; 2005 MIT List Visual Arts Center, Boston; Shoes for Europe, Baltic Art Center, Visby, Sweden; List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA; 2004 33 Revolutions Per Minute, Yvon Lambert, Paris, France; 2003 Performance white or Pale Unfinished Thoughts, Kunstbuero, Wien , Austria.

La Moldavia post sovietica ha smesso di essere raccontata: dal 1986 l’Archivio Nazionale del paese, che per lunghi decenni sotto l’Unione Sovietica ne ha sistematicamente documentato la vita pubblica e quotidiana attraverso film e fotografie, ha smesso di farlo come se il paese avesse smesso di esistere, fosse scomparso dalla Storia. Il progetto in progress Odyssey MD-2010 intende documentare un anno di vita in Moldavia, per supplire alla rimozione e alle mancanze della memoria della piccola repubblica che negli ultimi venticinque anni ha attraversato radicali cambiamenti.

Nell’identità mutevole di una nazione si rispecchia la difficoltà di orientare le identità dei singoli, e la storia di un paese si riflette nell’identità personale. Il tema si intreccia nel lavoro di Pavel Braila alla riflessione sui modi di documentare, archiviare e narrare la realtà. I due livelli si intrecciano continuamente nel suo lavoro e in tutte le opere in mostra fino a toccare l’autobiografia, dai neon Fear is shorter than Fervour (2008) e Want (2008) ai video Kick Off (2010) e Recalling event (2001), fino alla serie di dipinti My father’s dreams (2008), ironica rappresentazione delle aspirazioni del padre dell’artista che l’avrebbe voluto, tra le altre cose, astronauta, smascherando nei sogni privati le visioni di un’epoca.


Pavel Braila è nato a Chisinau (Moldavia) nel 1971. Vive e lavora tra Chisinau e Berlino.
Nel 2002 ha partecipato a Documenta 11 con il video Shoes for Europe.
Ha esposto in numerose mostre collettive e personali. Tra le mostre personali: 2010 Pavel Braila, National Museum Brukenthal, Romania; "Kick-Off” Artra, Milan; 2009 “Source”, Jan Dhaese, Gent; 2008 Want, Yvon Lambert Paris; 2007 Baron’s Hill, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam, The Netherlands; Kiasma - Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; 2006 Baltic Art Center, Visby; Galerie Im Taxispalais, Innsbruck; “Slow Poetry of Life Performance”, Jan Dhaese, Gent; 2005 MIT List Visual Arts Center, Boston; Shoes for Europe, Baltic Art Center, Visby, Sweden; List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA; 2004 33 Revolutions Per Minute, Yvon Lambert, Paris, France; 2003 Performance white or Pale Unfinished Thoughts, Kunstbuero, Wien , Austria.