Artist Alva
Accession number 1996-8
Alva became ‘stateless’ following Hitler’s accession to the German Chancellorship in 1933, as his passport was cancelled since neither of his parents was German. He returned to France and then fled to London in 1938. In the same year, he completed this symbolic painting, ‘Exodus’, which references both the ancient biblical account of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt and his own ‘forced journey’ from Germany. As the Ben Uri Collection’s notes on this image state, the “anonymity of the figures evokes the systematic mistreatment of an entire race under the Nazi regime and the wider displacement of war.”
Alva paints in muted tones which suggest the difficulties of both the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings and his own flight from Germany and France. Despite experiencing freedom from slavery, the Israelites complained consistently about the rigours of their journey, even arguing with Moses and suggesting they return to Egypt. Alva images the Exodus as taking place by night with no light at the end of their journey depicted. His image reveals the inherent difficulties of migration, giving the lie to those who make the claim that migration is a soft option made simply to enjoy a better standard of life. Here Alva makes real for us the challenges of migration and the suffering involved; suffering and challenge that no one undertakes lightly or without significant pressures at play that force their hand and necessitate their journey.
