Esther Shalev-Gerz: Inseparable Angels

The internationally renowned artist Esther Shalev-Gerz has created a room installation which presents her personal impression of Walter Benjamin’s famous 9th historical thesis and she investigates how the city of Weimar defines its own in history.

The project at the Bauhaus Museum Weimar focuses on one of the most significant linguistic creations of the 20^th century, the allegory of the “Angel of History”. It can be traced to Walter Benjamin, who proposed his famous historical-philosophical “Theses on the Concept of History” in 1939/40, in which he translated Paul Klee’s watercolour drawing “Angelus novus” (1920, now owned by the Israel Museum, Jerusalem) into words. Benjamin jotted these theses down along with his translation of the “Angel of History” during his exile in France while fleeing from persecution at the hands of the Nazis.

The literary scholar and translator Walter Benjamin, whose 130th anniversary will be commemorated in 2022, was also one of the most influential cultural critics of the 20^th century. With his translation of Klee’s painting as a philosophical concept, he opened imaginative possibilities which continue to inspire countless artists, filmmakers, writers and musicians today. The Klassik Stiftung Weimar has invited the artists Esther Shalev Gerz (Paris), Aura Rosenberg (New York/Berlin) and Ori Gersht (London) to Weimar to present their works which explore Walter Benjamin’s “Angel of History”.

The three installations, which will be successively presented at the Bauhaus Museum Weimar in 2022, probe the boundary between the word and the image, and between times and spaces. What all three have in common is their focus on the relationship between language and imagery and how they explore the consequences of history on the present day. These aspects are expressed by means of various artistic media including objects, photos, videos, animated films, written texts and audio recordings.

Esther Shalev-Gerz offers a new take on Walter Benjamin’s historical thesis in reference to Weimar and its understanding of history.

The exhibitions are supplemented by an accompanying catalogue which documents all the featured works. Authors: Boris Buden, Berlin; Danica Dakic, Düsseldorf/Weimar; Katharina Henkel, Hannover; Rolf Hemke, Weimar; Marius Hoppe, Weimar; Ulrike Bestgen, Weimar. Available in the onlineshop!

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