Αναβασις
upwardto step
How did the century envisage its own movement, its trajectory? As a re-ascent towards the source, an arduous construction of novelty, an exiled experience of beginning. These meanings, together with a few others, are conjoined in a Greek word: 'anabasis'. More particularly, Anabasis is the title of a narrative by Xenophon that tells the story of a troop of about 10,000 Greek mercenaries enlisted by one of the warring camps in a Persian dynastic quarrel.
Alain Badiou, The Century, trans. with commentary and notes Alberto Toscano, USA: Polity Press, 2007, p. 81.
Here you can discover artworks inspired by the poetry of Paul Celan that are results of a two weeks residency (19th of July - 1st of August 2021) with artists from Germany and Ukraine
Together.
The curators and coordinators were elaborating the concept long before the residency, mainly focussing on questions of identity and posthumanism based on selected Celan-poems.
The selection process of the 69 applications for ten places required several discussion rounds of the Anabasis Team.
Mitsammen.
Sebastian Unger (Germany) Oleksandr Sushynskii (Ukraine) Dr. Enikő Dácz (Germany) Oleh Barasii (Ukraine)
Dovilė Aleksaitė (Berlin) Yana Bachynska (Lviv) Bohdan Bunchak (Kyiv) Tiny Domingos (Berlin) Oscar Lebeck (Leipzig) Neue Judische Kunst (Kyiv) Bohdan Svyrydov (Cherkasy) Paul Wiersbinski (Berlin) Vitaly Yankovy (Vinnytsia) Hana Yoo (Berlin)
Das Gedicht ist einsam. Es ist einsam und unterwegs. Wer es schreibt, bleibt ihm mitgegeben.
— Paul Celan
einsam
Only one thing remained reachable, close and secure amid all losses: language. Yes, language. In spite of everything, it remained secure against loss.
— Paul Celan
what are the goals of posthumanism regarding to the planetary and space perspective?
in Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Antihumanism, Metahumanism, and New Materialisms Differences and Relations, by Francesca FerrandoPosthumanism can be seen as a post-exclusivism: an empirical philosophy of mediation which offers a reconciliation of existence in its broadest significations. Posthumanism does not employ any frontal dualism or antithesis, demystifying any ontological polarization through the postmodern practice of deconstruction. Not obsessed with proving the originality of itshuman animals, biological organisms and machines, the physical and the nonphysical realm; and ultimately, the boundary between technology and the self.(p. 29)
The following, long-awaited and organised residency was defined by the talks of the experts…
Dr. Francesca Ferrando (USA) José F.A. Oliver (Germany) Prof. Dr. Petro Rychlo (Ukraine) Paul Sars (Netherlands) Rochelle Tobias (USA)
… artists, and curators with the recurrent topic of Paul Celan’s poetry and the obvious or less obvious ties to posthumanism.
During the intensive work, the otherwise private search for identity/ies became a common act of creation.
![abstract drawing; text fragments: Who am I? a clown with purple lips; [etc]](/whoami.e1c5cf5d.jpg)
The artists’ inputs showcased, among others, methodical difficulties and the search for the appropriate form.
The topics discussed often touched the core…
And we did not miss some technical difficulties which required language switching…
In the months after the residency, the curators and coordinators got insights into the working processes.
However, at that time, we were free to use our phantasy for imagining the final works e.g. as we got the Celanian keywords:
- landscape
- uncharted territory
- gravity
- language
or even concrete geographical references.
In other cases, we got prepared for the final surprise.
But during the whole time, we tried to build a bridge between the artists and the interested community while communicating with all involved, including the developers.
And so here
we are happy
to invite you
to wander
with our artists!
Click to browse the artworks:
