ILONA LOVAS video was made for her solo exhibition at the Musee de Bibracte in France in 2007, for which she was awarded a scholarship by the foundation named after the poet Evelyne Encelot. The all-glass, modern museum was built on one of the most important Celtic archaeological sites in the world, and the artist was asked to create a new work inspired by the place. This work was entitled Anima Nostra. She linked Velem, a significant site in the early years of her career, with the hill of Beuvry, which also has Celtic origins. The two-channel video juxtaposes images of the barefoot pilgrimage to the two sites, and links the train journey between the two sites with the sight of the landscape passing by from the window. The landscape is seen upside down, as if reversing the direction of up and down, just as the dead are buried in the ground below, but the souls of the dead are transported upwards, into the sky. The bare, wounded feet walking tirelessly, the perseverance of the pilgrim atoning for his suffering on earth, gives the viewer a throat-clenching sensation and prompts him to confront his own past. For Lovas, sacred places are important, both as destinations for pilgrimages, but also as places where supernatural forces are more strongly felt, where contact with the celestial powers is easier, or, more simply, where prayers are answered.