If I Could Only Remember - 2017
I was born in 1987 in Krakow, Poland. At that time, the Berlin Wall was still standing and my parents wanted to escape the country. What they didn’t know was that they were facing the last traces of Communism left in the country.
In any case, we fled to Germany, where we stayed in a refugee camp for about two years. We then went to Canada for seven years. Our last destination was Switzerland, where I live now.
“If I Could Only Remember” is a voyage through my memories, about the moments I spent at my youngest age, until I was three years old. It all begins with my first memory, which coincides with the last day we spent at our refugee camp in Germany before flying to Canada. The memory is me sitting on the edge of a jacuzzi with my father. I then see my mother wrapping me with a big towel. In my family albums, there is a pictures of this moment.
Through this project, I am retracing the memories of what I lived as well as the memories my mind created from the stories I’ve been told by my parents and relatives. I’ve tried to represent everything as in a dream, or maybe a distorted memory.
Some of the scenes depicted are anchored in the real world and then represented as if in a dream. I’m alternating between the two worlds as if I were confused about the truth and the representations I made myself believe are true. In these images, I am trying to show to the viewer my process of re-creation, to show that I am looking for some sort of answer or maybe trying to re-create a truth.
Ultimately, this is all a reflection of my blurred memories that I am trying to rediscover, to imagine anew.
Exhibition UIsan Photography Festival - If I Could Only Remember, - Ulsan, South Korea, May 2023
Digital Exhibition Forum Transfrontalier - Autres Frontières, If I Could Only Remember, February 2021
Shortlist VFG Nachwuchsförderpreis 2018 - If I Could Only Remember, Switzerland, June 2018
Exhibition Revolv One Year Show - Safehouse 1, If I Could Only Remember, - London, England, June 2018
Exhibition Photo London - Somerset House, If I Could Only Remember - London, England, May 2018
Exhibition Swiss Photo Award - Photobastei 2.0, Shortlist - If I Could Only Remember, - Zürich, Switzerland, March 2018
Finalist LensCulture Exposure Awards 2018, If I Could Only Remember, February 2018
Exhibition The Pupil Sphere Groupe Show - If I Could Only Remember, - Leeds, England, February 2018
Exhibition Nuit de la Photo - If I Could Only Remember, - La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, February 2018
Exhibition The Pupil Sphere Groupe Show - If I Could Only Remember, - Glasgow, Scotland, January 2018
Exhibition 73rd Biennial of Contemporary Art, If I Could Only Remember, - La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, December 2017
Exhibition Photoforum Prize Exhibition - Photoforum Pasquart - If I Could Only Remember, - Biel, Switzerland, December 2017
Prize USPP Prize 2017 - If I Could Only Remember, - Vevey, Switzerland, June 2017
Selection of articles about If I Could Only Remember
British Journal of Photography - November 2018 https://www.1854.photography/tag/maciej-czepiel/
Lens Culture Exposure Award 2018 https://www.lensculture.com/articles/maciej-czepiel-if-i-could-only-remember
Swiss Photo Award 2017 http://www.swissphotocollection.ch/project/if-i-could-only-remember/
Forum Transfrontalier https://www.forum-transfrontalier.org/autres-frontieres/maciej_czepiel/
From NE with Love https://fromnewithlove.ch/artiste/czepiel-maciej/
PH Museum https://phmuseum.com/news/searching-for-the-first-memory
