Unseen and Unheard

The Prinzhorn Collection is famous for its psychiatry-related artworks which date back to the mid-19th century. Regarded as a model for similar collections, the Prinzhorn Collection has undertaken pioneering steps in the examination and study of what some have called “outsider art”. The project Unseen and Unheard presented artistic reactions to the Prinzhorn Collection.
The internationally renowned video artists Javier Téllez and Mauricio Dias & Walter Riedweg used works from the collection as inspiration for staged scenes, developed together with patients in psychiatric wards in Wiesloch (near Heidelberg) and Rio de Janeiro. The final video installation was presented alongside the works referenced in the film. In the second part of the project, the Heidelberger Ensemble KlangForum, conducted by Walter Nußbaum, rehearsed and performed contemporary compositions which were inspired by the Prinzhorn Collection in recent years. Some of the pieces were performed for the very first time. The third part of the project was a German-English publication series. The two-volume edition examined the artistic reactions to the Prinzhorn Collection since the First World War in the areas of fine art, literature, film and music.

Artistic directors: Thomas Röske, Javier Téllez (US); Artists: Mauricio Dias & Walter Riedweg (BR), Walter Nußbaum; Curator: Ingrid von Beyme

Venues and Schedule:
Heidelberg, Sammlung Prinzhorn
Opening of the Exhibitions in Summer (06.06.2012 - 23.09.2012, Exhibition I: Mauricio Dias & Walter Riedweg) and Autumn 2012 (25.10.2012 - 10.02.2013, Exhibition II: Javier Téllez).