Roman Ondak

Lucky Day

  • Roman Ondak, Lucky Day, 2006, Videostill

    16mm film, colour, silent, loop, 4'00''

Almost all of us are familiar with them, the small gestures and private rituals we use to try to draw fickle Lady Luck onto our side. Throwing a coin into a fountain to make a wish to return to this place some day is one of the more commonly known small sacrificial rituals to the power of fortune. It is early morning; a young man is walking along a street in a medieval-style city, he is carrying a paper bag in his hands, he wanders through a number of streets until he reaches a small fountain and empties the entire contents of the bag into the fountain. Ten thousand sparkling silver coins, that must be a Lucky Day!

Roman Ondak created 'Lucky Day' as a short, four-minute-long 16 mm film in 2006 in Santiago de Compostela, a place of pilgrimage where questions of faith and hope play a key role. Maybe it's no coincidence that the fountain on the Praza de Fonseca is not dedicated to any particular saint, but many people in Galicia claim that the water in this fountain has healing properties. The water protects against blindness.

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