Back Home After Five Years

There were two items waiting for me at the post box yesterday. While the first one made me very happy, the second one was a complete surprise.

This lady was sent five years ago to participate in an exhibition at a Berlin indie design store, with a theme of dolls. It was the first time one of my dolls was invited to take part in a show. After a short correspondence with the owner, I decided she was trustworthy, and shipped the doll to Germany. When the doll arrived, I received confirmation, but afterwards I heard almost nothing. I couldn’t even find any information about the exhibition online. I contacted the owner, and she promised to ship the doll back, but I received nothing, so I contacted her again and again. It was the same every time: she promised, I waited, and nothing arrived. After a while, she stopped replying altogether, and her phone line was disconnected.

Thanks to German-speaking friends, I found her home number, but it was useless as well. My friends tried to talk with her in German, to no avail.

There was nothing I could do, and at the time I was so disappointed that I even considered contacting the German police, but it seemed too complicated, so I gave up.

Time passed, and I almost forgot about this incident. Yesterday, I went to the post office. I knew there should be something from Germany waiting for me there, but I couldn't figure out why I received two items from Germany. It took me a few seconds to remember whom I might know in Berlin.

The package was the original packaging I used five years ago, and along with the doll there were two smaller envelopes, with works of other artists, dating back to 2007 as well. Now I have some mail to send too.

* By the way, the other item I mentioned is a catalog of Norwegian artist Hannah Ryggen, who used weaving and tapestry as painting  in a very interesting way, to reflect her social and political engagement. Although she worked since the 1930's until the late 1960's her work remained unknown to a broader audience. It was exhibited at the most recent Kassel dOCUMENTA this summer. A dear friend of mine introduced me to her work and sent this catalog as well.