Unfolding the Ayran Papers (2009) - Jane & Louise Wilson

Commissioned by Animate Projects and the BFI, London. Co-owned by The Arts Council Collection, The Herbert, Coventry and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. Jointly purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund Collecting Cultures and the Contemporary Art Society.

The purchase of these two major film works by Jane and Louise Wilson (Proton, Unity, Energy, Blizzard and Unfolding the Aryan Papers) has been achieved through a partnership with the Arts Council Collection. The acquisition supports an existing strong relationship between Wolverhampton Art Gallery and The Herbert and is the first time that the Arts Council Collection has co-acquired with a regional gallery. The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to have contributed funds and to have brokered the relationship with our Member Museums.

Ten years later (after Proton, Unity, Energy, Blizzard), Unfolding the Ayran Papers was first shown at the BFI, following extensive research by the artists into the Stanley Kubrick archive. They found footage of a film that was never completed, a Holocaust film to have been named Aryan Papers. After months of pre-production the film was pulled. The archive included shots of Actress Johanna ter Steege taken on location in a 1930’s building in London. Unfolding the Ayran Papers splices together new footage of ter Steege with original photographs from the archive in their beautifully shot film which draws together many layers of history and memory.