Polyphonic

The diversity of voices and the effect of pluralistic sounds are at the centre of the exhibition “Polyphonic”, taking place in the twin cities of Gera and Saint Denis. Museums in both cities are jointly developing and presenting an exhibition which addresses polyphony from both an arts and music perspective. The exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on the multiplicity of voices as a societal phenomenon. The installations, performances, drawings and videos highlight the clashing convergence and divergence of voices and sounds in different ways.

The exhibition showcases ground-breaking works from the 1970s and 1980s by the sound art pioneer Max Neuhaus and the poet and graphic artist Carlfriedrich Claus, alongside contemporary works by such artists as Jorinde Voigt, Candice Breitz and Olaf Nicolai. Other featured works include recent pieces by Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Christina Kubisch, Rie Nakajima and Natascha Sadr Haghighian among others. The exhibition will kick off with a public conference at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB) which will address the topic of polyphony as a theoretical model and artistic medium. The Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte in Paris will accompany the entire project with a conceptual and theoretical series of seminars. An extensive publication will document the exhibition and accompanying programme.

Artistic director: Anne Zeitz in Zusammenarbeit mit Claudia Tittel
Curator: Anne Zeitz
Artists: Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Félicia Atkinson, Oliver Beer, Candice Breitz, Carlfriedrich Claus, Kazumichi Fujiwara, institute for incongruous translation (Natascha Sadr Haghighian and Ashkan Sepahvand), Rolf Julius, Christina Kubisch, Olaf Nicolai, Vincent Meessen, Francisco Meirino, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Rie Nakajima, Max Neuhaus, Olaf Nicolai, Ute Pleuger, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Matthieu Saladin, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Lerato Shadi, Dennis Tyfus, Jorinde Voigt, Euridice Zaituna Kala
Cooperation partners: Mathilde Arnoux (DFK Paris), Séverine Cauchy (Université Rennes 2), Dieter Daniels (HGB Leipzig), Jan Thoben (UdK Berlin), Matthieu Saladin (Université Paris 8), Anne Yanover (Musee d’art et d’histoire Paul Eluard, Saint-Denis)

International Events

Lab „Exhibiting Polyphony (external link, opens in a new window)“ at DFK Paris: 19/3, 9/4, 20/5, 18/6, 2–5 pm
Exhibition, Musee d’art et d’histoire Paul Éluard, Saint-Denis: 9 May – 7 November 2022