The exhibition In the Skeleton of the Stars, set in the Caribbean and the Amazon basin, is dedicated to the imagination's political potential. It presents memories, tales and histories that have shaped this imagination, including indigenous mythologies and the violent conquest of the South American continent, through what Édouard Glissant calls the "tropical night" and its "spirits and figures that weigh on the shoulders". The tropical night – the noise and silence, and the darkness and light – thus opens a portal into different orders of reality, unlocks the imagination and allows us to re-configure our position in the world.
The exhibition is also inspired by the decolonial and ecological vision of Guyanese author Wilson Harris, whose texts connect the Amazon basin landscape with its inhabitants’ psychic landscape. His stories describe a quest for oneness and follow ancient alchemical thinking in which the material world is intrinsically linked to the human soul. Throughout, Harris imagines a collective unconscious in which humans, nature, flora and fauna are part of the same being and which bridges times and cultures. With works by Minia Biabiany, Pamela Colman Smith, Karl Joseph and Marc-Alexandre Tareau, Mirtho Linguet, Loren Minzú, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Marcel Pinas, Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Concept by Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc and Lea Altner in collaboration with ifa Gallery Stuttgart.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue in German and English.
The curators Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc and Lea Altner discuss the concept and give insights into the exhibition. In English.
Art talks and guided tours through the exhibtion followed by an aperitif at the gallery.
Additional dates: 10.03., 23.03., 21.04. at 16.00.
This afternoon we leave it to chance and try different printing techniques: Whether monotype, frottage or string printing, the techniques are simple, quite combinable with each other and challenge us directly to the colorful play with shapes and colors. In the end, we will be surprised what can be discovered in our pictures.
Please register at hammerbacher(at)ifa.de.
In tribute to Pamela Colman Smith, whose Annancy Stories are part of the exhibition "In the Skeleton of the Stars", Moriz Stangl will have the guests in the gallery draw tarot cards in the Harris Crowley and Colman Smith Waite deck. In 1909, writer and illustrator Pamela Colman Smith was commissioned by American scholar and mystic Arthur Edward Waite to design a tarot deck. She developed a rich imagery of occult symbolism that became the standard for tarot deck illustrations.
Please register at hammerbacher(at)ifa.de.
The gallery team accompanies the visitors in hourly short tours through the exhibition"In the Skeleton of the Stars". Mixed drinks can be enjoyed with Caribbean rythms.
The Stuttgart actress, speaker and director Barbara Stoll reads excerpts from the story "The Palace of Peacocks" by Wilson Harris (1921 – 2018). The novel was written in 1960. His main character Donne is a determined conqueror. He undertakes an expedition to find workers for his plantation. But in the course of the journey, not only the destination of Donne's venture changes, but also himself. Wilson Harris narrates in impressive, often contradictory images. His prose is a search for the vanished Caribbean traditions of the Guyanese community.
ifa Gallery Stuttgart
Charlottenplatz 17
D-70173 Stuttgart
Tuesday – Sunday: 12.00 – 18.00
Closed on Mondays and holidays.
The current guidelines of the Corona Ordinance of the State of Baden-Württemberg must be observed.
Charlottenplatz 17
D-70173 Stuttgart
