Matadero Madrid center for contemporary creation
HERTA MÜLLER: THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF WORDS
A look at the life and works of this Nobel prize-winning writer
Start date
End date
Venue
Casa del Lector
Institution
"The trajectory that leads from a child tending cows in the valley to the Stockholm City Hall is a strange one. Here, too, (as is often the case), I am standing beside myself."
With these words Herta Müller began her acceptance speech at the Nobel Prize banquet, December 10, 2009. The Goethe-Institut, with Herta Müller: The Vicious Circle of Words offers us an exhibition that follows the life and works of the Romanian-born German writer and Nobel Prize winner. The exhibition takes a look at the writer's life, from her childhood as a Banat Swabian through her taking the Nobel Prize in Literature. The show is comprised of family photographs and documents belonging to Herta Müller and of television interviews in which she talks about her life in Romania and Germany, about her emmigration, her writing, and her motivation. Some of those whose paths she crossed along the way, such as the writers from the “Banat Action Group” are featured. Excerpts of documents from the Romanian political police (the Securitate) display the rigorousness and misanthropy of that political system. This exhibition is an abridged and reworked version of the show, “The Cold Jewels of Life”, that the Literaturhaus of Berlin created for her and that could be seen, as well as at other locations, at the Literaturhaus of Munich. Both exhibitions where curated by Lutz Dittrich and Ernest Wichner, two renowned experts in Herta Müller's work. An additional component of the exhibition are the collages that the author created, beginning in the late 80s. The collages that will be presented in within the framework of this exhibition are recent works, never before shown in Spanish, and come from her latest book, “Vater telefoniert mit den Fliegen” [Father Telephones the Flies], Hanser Verlag, 2012). These pieces offer us a lesser-known side of her work. The opening will be held Wednesday, February 20, at 7:00pm. It will feature a reading of her poems by her translator, José Luis Reina Palazón.
With the collaboration of the Goethe-Institut Madrid.
Opening: Wednesday, February 20, 7pm.
With these words Herta Müller began her acceptance speech at the Nobel Prize banquet, December 10, 2009. The Goethe-Institut, with Herta Müller: The Vicious Circle of Words offers us an exhibition that follows the life and works of the Romanian-born German writer and Nobel Prize winner. The exhibition takes a look at the writer's life, from her childhood as a Banat Swabian through her taking the Nobel Prize in Literature. The show is comprised of family photographs and documents belonging to Herta Müller and of television interviews in which she talks about her life in Romania and Germany, about her emmigration, her writing, and her motivation. Some of those whose paths she crossed along the way, such as the writers from the “Banat Action Group” are featured. Excerpts of documents from the Romanian political police (the Securitate) display the rigorousness and misanthropy of that political system. This exhibition is an abridged and reworked version of the show, “The Cold Jewels of Life”, that the Literaturhaus of Berlin created for her and that could be seen, as well as at other locations, at the Literaturhaus of Munich. Both exhibitions where curated by Lutz Dittrich and Ernest Wichner, two renowned experts in Herta Müller's work. An additional component of the exhibition are the collages that the author created, beginning in the late 80s. The collages that will be presented in within the framework of this exhibition are recent works, never before shown in Spanish, and come from her latest book, “Vater telefoniert mit den Fliegen” [Father Telephones the Flies], Hanser Verlag, 2012). These pieces offer us a lesser-known side of her work. The opening will be held Wednesday, February 20, at 7:00pm. It will feature a reading of her poems by her translator, José Luis Reina Palazón.
With the collaboration of the Goethe-Institut Madrid.
Opening: Wednesday, February 20, 7pm.
