Debt
curator Tomáš Svoboda within an exhibition How not to want anything
- Daily / , Desfours Palace
Pavel Sterec, Petra Herotova, Zbyněk Baladrán, Kathrin Sohn
Whom do we have to thank for our existence? Are we completely free, or is there such a thing as original debt? The ancient authors of the Brahmana texts described our debt towards the gods, sages, our ancestors, and other people. But how to pay these debts?
Our debt towards the sages can apparently be paid off by becoming sages ourselves. I can pay my debt to my ancestors by becoming a patriarch myself. My debt towards mankind is paid by acting humanely. But how to repay our debts towards the gods? By becoming one ourselves? That sounds pretty presumptuous…
If anything, the ancient writings tell us that these debts are not real because one cannot live in isolation. The entire concept of canceling one’s debt and achieving a separate and independent existence is thus completely absurd.
Freedom is not isolation.
Freedom is the ability to make friendships.
Let’s cancel our debts and start from the beginning!
Loosely from David Graeber’s book Debt: The First 5000 Years
Within an exhibition How not to want anything ›
