Fondazione ICA Milano presents, from Friday, September 16 to Saturday, October 15, 2022, the exhibition Die Bucher by
German artist Annette Kelm (Stuttgart, 1975), curated by Alberto Salvadori and Chiara Nuzzi.
The main focus of the exhibition project, which was originally presented at the Munich Documentation Centre for the
History of National Socialism in 2019, is the representation of the book, meant as an object able to transcend its mere
role of narrative tool in order to become a living metaphor. In Annette Kelm’s work, the book becomes a fragment of a
specific historical time and a vessel for a powerful reflection, articulated around the weight of the past and the impact it
has on the present.
The exhibition is organized around an itinerary of photographic images, a selection of shots carefully designed by the
artist to picture a sadly well-known chapter in the history of the 20th century. Each of the 104 photographs set up on the
first floor of the Foundation depicts one of the volumes that had been banned by the National Socialists starting from
May 10, 1933, when a group of students set more than 30,000 books on fire in Berlin’s Obernplatz. The burning, which
marked the starting point of the gradual public opinion alignment with the political party that had inspired it, also marked
the beginning of persecutions of writers and intellectuals who were against those political ideals. Among the authors
who were banned there were some renowned writers such as Erich Kästner and Stefan Zweig alongside lesser-known
names, as well as authors of children’s books.
The research initiated by Annette Kelm saw the artist focusing on a genuine study of editions, which led to the careful
selection of a series of volumes, from both public and private collections, published between 1913 and 1944. Kelm’s
interest is specifically directed towards a peculiar cultural and urban spirit, reflecting the avant-garde movements from
the 1920s and 1930s. Kelm pays a particular attention to the design of covers, which, in the wake of the Book Art
movement, was inspired by the innovations promoted by contemporary art movements such as Expressionism,
Constructivism, Bauhaus and Dada. Annette Kelm’s destroyed books are portrayed according to precise formal criteria
and they come back to life, regaining their own dignity, through the lens of the camera. The artist worked on the series
from 2019 to 2021, concluding the research last year.
Further information in the press release to download
Copy of 03 Work-Book-Work, 2019, installation view, Fondazione ICA Milano Ph. Filippo Armellin
Copy of 02 Work-Book-Work, 2019, installation view, Fondazione ICA Milano Ph. Filippo Armellin
Copy of 01 Work-Book-Work, 2019, installation view, Fondazione ICA Milano Ph. Filippo Armellin
Copy of Costanza Candeloro-Kitten HD & Kitten Lo-fi, 2022, Video 10'26ÔÇÖÔÇÖ-Courtesy lÔÇÖartista the artist e and Martina Simeti
Copy of Costanza Candeloro-Kitten HD & Kitten Lo-fi, 2022, Video 10'26ÔÇÖÔÇÖ-Courtesy lÔÇÖartista the artist e and Martina Simeti-1
Copy of Costanza Candeloro- Mains Libres, 2019-Courtesy the artist and Martina Simeti-phAndreaRossetti
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