Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.

Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, CA

Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, It can’t Last, no Rush, 2010 © Manifesta 8/Ilya Rabinovich

Installation at Arqua National Museum of Underwater Archaeology in Cartagena

It has been said that under every church in Spain lies a mosque. Canadian artist Jean-Marc Superville Sovak conceived of this installation as a monument to impermanence. Using clay from the Murcia region, he made sun-dried bricks, each stamped with the word “EMPIRE.” The bricks were stacked in a precarious pile, a reminder that empires come and go.