Atemkristall (Breathcrystal)

About

‘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.