‘Poetry: that can mean an Atemwende, a breathturn. Who knows perhaps poetry travels this route – also the route of art – for the sake of such a breathturn?’ – Paul Celan, 1960
In 1965, the Goethe Institute in Paris hosted the exhibition Atemkristall (Breathcrystal), comprising a collection of 21 poems by the Romanian-born German-language poet Paul Celan, mirrored by eight etchings by his partner, the French graphic artist Gisèle Lestrange. The poems were later published as the first of five cycles making up the volume Atemwende (Breathturn), about which Celan made the above statement. As a polyglot, he felt this Breathturn to be the precise moment at which language opens up to a multiplicity of meanings; the point at which it breaks down and is reformulated into new words. To write without citation, not referencing the grand narratives that have gone before, and to ‘let only your own words speak’ on their own merits. It is the play of one language to another, adjusted by a touch of equivalence, being transported from one idea to another through material exchange. This perpetuum mobile of language, the visual arts and word play is brought about by a systematic interaction between walking, memory, and current events, whereby the poem creates an equivalent experience, which can be revisited and explored multiple times.
In 2020, the Beyond Other Horizons exhibition at the Palace of Culture, Iasi, Romania, showcased 84 artists from Romania and the UK, responding to Celan’s poetry, to celebrate 100 years since his birth. Curated by Peter Harrap, Anna McNay and Florin Ungureanu, in partnership with the Iasi Palace of Culture, Iasi ‘George Enescu’ National University of the Arts, and UCL SSEES, it focused on the themes of Walking, Language and Otherness.
Works on paper exploring Walking, Language and Otherness remain the touchstone of our Atemkristall exhibition, but with the added interplay of visual equivalence, as originally conceived by Celan and Lestrange in their exhibition of the same name. In addition, there will be three vitrine displays: one featuring archival material relating to Celan and Lestrange; one with specially selected small paintings by Peter Harrap, responding to poems by Katy Holbird; and one with a collaborative work by poet Harriet Tarlo and artist Judith Tucker, who tragically died in an accident in November 2023.
Paul Celan was born in Czernowitz, Romania, now Ukraine, in 1920.
Gisèle Lestrange was born in Paris, France, in 1927.
Peter Harrap, artist and curator, PhD(c) Iasi, George Enescu University, Hon UCL, SSEES
Anna McNay, independent writer, editor and curator
Florin Ungureanu, artist and curator, Iasi Palace of Culture, Romania
This exhibition is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute, the British Council Romania, the Warburg Institute, UCL London, and National University of the Arts ‘George Enescu’ Iasi, Romania.
The exhibition will tour to the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and Berlin.
Events on Thursday 20 March, starting at the Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PH and continuing at the Blyth Gallery, Level 5, Sherfield Building, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ:
Symposium: Romanian Cultural Institute, 11.45am-3.30pm
Concert: Romanian Cultural Institute, 4.00-5.00pm
Private view: Blyth Gallery, 6.30-8.30pm
