Shifting the Silence

Shifting the Silence is the title of Etel Adnan's last book, published in 2021. The German translation Die Stille verschieben was published posthumously in 2022. Recognizably writing at the end of her life, Etel Adnan offers melancholy, poetic, and very personal thoughts on major themes of life. Short prose pieces, everyday observations, feelings, anecdotes, and memories define the non-linear narrative. Her intense confrontation with her own death creates a serious, philosophical depth. At the same time, however, Etel Adnan celebrates the beauty of life, which can be interpreted as a political defense against social silencing. It is the text of a painter whose artistic career began as a writer and philosopher. One room of the exhibition is therefore dedicated to her paintings.

The exhibition proposes appropriating a central concern of Shifting the Silence: reflecting on the difficulty of fully verbalizing works of visual art and making them tangible. Linguization—i.e. the translation of artworks and aesthetic experiences into words and language—poses a challenge in many respects. Language is not only a means of communication, it is also limited and sometimes even a handicap when it comes to conveying complex impressions and perceptions. Etel Adnan suggests "shifting" silence—in other words, expanding the boundaries of what can be said and not rationalizing the poetic nature of the many forms of expression in the arts, but accepting it as an intrinsic value.

With works by Etel Adnan, Saâdane Afif, Nevin Aladağ, Harold Ancart, Tolia Astakhishvili, Leilah Babirye, Cana Bilir-Meier, Mel Bochner, Thea Djordjadze, Simone Fattal, Amy Feldman, Dan Flavin, Isa Genzken, Adrian Ghenie, Zvi Goldstein, Sheela Gowda, Giorgio Griffa, Philipp Gufler, Samia Halaby, Candida Höfer, Jenny Holzer, KAYA, Alexander Kluge, Jiří Kovanda, Goshka Macuga, Nick Mauss, Rosemary Mayer, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Roméo Mivekannin, Matt Mullican, Marcel Odenbach, Roman Ondak, Anri Sala, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Spomenko Škrbić, Sung Tieu, Gülbin Ünlü, Nicole Wermers and Issy Wood.

Shifting the Silence makes room for free association, and is the guiding idea behind this exhibition, accompanying and illuminating the artworks as an open model of interpretation.

Curated by Eva Huttenlauch and Matthias Mühling 

With donations by: Doris Keller-Riemer and Hans-Gerd Riemer, Jörg Johnen, Nevin Aladağ, Amy Feldman, Zvi Goldstein, Goshka Macuga, Nick Mauss, Gabriel and Renate Mayer, Thorsten Eimuth, Jan Fischer, Marion Grčić-Ziersch, Sammlung Thiess, Mathias-Pschorr-Stiftung, Förderverein Lenbachhaus e.V.