19 November 2019 press release

Herta Müller, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, has been creating collages for more than thirty years. From 29 November 2019, the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 of the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main will be presenting a selection of Herta Müller’s collages in cooperation with the author herself. The exhibition will open on 28 November 2019 including a talk and reading by Herta Müller.

When people flee, their words go with them to the new country. They cross borders, open up new contexts, reveal previously hidden levels of meaning: “Words were waiting everywhere, I just had to cut them out. They were outside me, I didn’t have to search my mind for them as I do when I am writing. The texts resound because the words are shaded with a variety of colours and the changing sizes give them different voices.” (Herta Müller: The echo in the Mind).

Herta Müller’s collages cross boundaries. They blur the distinctions between image and text, poetry and prose, literal and figurative meaning. However, they do more than break through formal and aesthetic constraints; in terms of content, they also engage repeatedly with borders, border crossings, flight and exile. Herta Müller has recorded all the collages for an audio guide. “We are delighted to have enlisted Herta Müller’s assistance with this audio guide, as this will enable listeners to experience the many dimensions of her collages all the more intensively,” says Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Director of the German Exile Archive.

„... the wind sets down its bag in another land…” – Herta Müller. Collages
Exhibition of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 in the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main
29 November 2019 to 28 March 2020

Monday – Friday 9:00-21:30
Saturday 10:00 – 17:30
Closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Please take note of the announcements on our website: www.dnb.de
Admission is free.

Exhibition opening: 28 November 2019 19:00
Welcome: Ute Schwens, director of the German National Library Frankfurt am Main
Talk and reading by Herta Müller
Moderation: Dr. Sylvia Asmus, director of the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 in the German National Library
Musical accompaniment: Henrike Brüggen (piano) and Laurent Weibel (violin)

Responsible for the exhibition and in charge of projects at the German Exile Archive 1933–1945: Dr. Sylvia Asmus. Exhibition design: SPACE4 GmbH, Stuttgart

Accompanying events

“Talk at the exhibition with Dr. Christina Rossi”

Dr. Christina Rossi is a Germanist and the author of the book “Sinn und Struktur” (Meaning and Structure), an extensive literary study of Herta Müller’s collages. During the talk at the exhibition, she will introduce visitors to Herta Müller’s collage work and explain individual collages in greater depth.
Friday, 17 January 2020, 18:00; Thursday, 20 February 2020, 18:00

‘Koffertrauer’ and ‘Heimatmaschine’ – a short guided tour of the exhibition

Every third Thursday in the month: 19 December 2019, 16 January 2020, 20 February 2020, 19 March 2020, at 13:00.

Educational service

To accompany the exhibition, the German Exile Archive is offering a workshop for pupils in classes 8 to 10 with the title “Poetry using Scissors and Paper”. Please contact us for bookings and appointments: phone +49 69 1525-1982 or exilarchiv-veranstaltungen@dnb.de

Background

The task of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 of the German National Library is to collect publications and records of the German-speaking exile during the period of Nazi dictatorship. Such publications include all books and brochures published by German-speaking emigrants abroad between 1933 and 1950, from the fields of literature, politics, science and Jewish emigration, as well as any journals published by exiles. The records include personal estates of German-speaking emigrants from all specialist areas and professional groups, archives from exile organisations and single autographs. Since March 2018, selected exhibits from the German Exile Archive’s own collection have been on display in the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony”. The German Exile Archive’s events and temporary exhibitions take a closer look at other themes and thus draw parallels between historic exile and current phenomena.

Contact

Images

Images for editorial use in connection with reporting on the exhibition

An image by Barbara Klemm, “Herta Müller working on collages at her desk”, can be accessed for reporting purposes.