The road from one jail to another. Pavlensky’s arson of the Bank of France as (un)successful cultural transfer and self-translation

Abstract:Pyotr Pavlensky is an émigré-artist of Russian origin who, in order to protest the power of French bankers, in October 2017 set fire to a branch of the Bank of France, at the Place de la Bastille in Paris. This article proposes to consider this action not only as a case of cultural transfer, but also as self-translation. In fact, Pavlensky’s performance in Paris, called Éclairage (Illumination), bears a striking resemblance to the performance that he carried out in Moscow in 2015 under the Russian title Ugroza (Threat), which consisted of setting fire to the headquarters of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. We are hence invited to compare these two performances, to look for shifts, and to interpret them. Drawing on Descriptive Translation Studies and Cultural Transfer Studies, it is possible to gain a deeper understanding of the paradoxical reception of Pavlensky’s transnational, provocative art. This leads to analyzing Éclairage as a way of the artist to defend himself against recuperation by the regime of the receiving country.

Publication year:2022

Accessibility:Open

Review status:Peer-reviewed