On 6 April 2009 at 3:32 a.m., a devastating earthquake shook the Italian city of L’Aquila and its surrounding region. One of the hardest-hit places was the village of Onna, located on the outskirts. Of its 300 residents, 40 lost their lives that night. Only a field of rubble remained. During the Second World War, the village had already suffered a tragic fate: on 11 June 1944, retreating soldiers of the German Wehrmacht committed a massacre and destroyed nearly a third of all buildings.
Göran Gnaudschun portrayed the village and its people – children, adolescents, and the elderly. He writes: »I saw grief and pain in their faces, but also resilience and strength, a deep will to carry on, to look ahead – for the family, for others, and for those who were so suddenly torn from life. I delved deep into the village’s past through archive material and private photographs. The overflowing images of the past intertwine with the quiet, deserted scenes of the present. The texts are condensed from interviews, reports, and books. They form a separate layer above the images.«
»Stimmen, die sich suchen (Voices Seeking One Another)« is a work about memory, the passage of time, about pain and loss-but also about the human capacity to continue living one’s life despite it all.

Göran Gnaudschun, *1971 in Potsdam; lives and works in Potsdam, Germany.