2. If By Night, A Stranger (2025) – Maud Haya-Baviera

2025. Video
2 min 51 sec

Maud Haya-Baviera’s If By Night, A Stranger takes inspiration from
the letters of Alice Mendel, who sought refuge for herself and her
daughter following her husband’s incarceration in Buchenwald during
the November Pogrom in 1938. The video features two women in
conversation through the lens of the camera, shown in alternating
frames. One—played by the artist—performs a staged expression
of emotion; the other attempts to interpret these gestures into
British Sign Language. As meaning repeatedly slips from reach, both
women eventually face the camera in silence, caught in a moment
of helplessness. Played on a loop, the allegory gains in poignancy by
repeated watch.

In If By Night, A Stranger, Haya-Baviera gives form to questions
shared by many of the Memorial Gestures artists: How can we
translate and communicate the emotions and experiences of
Holocaust survivors and their murdered relatives? Can we ever
fully understand?

This is the first in a series of four works created by Haya-Baviera
during her residency at Holocaust Centre North.

With thanks to the Mendel family, whose collection inspired this
work. Courtesy of Holocaust Centre North Archive.