Avec Virgina Ariu, Jean-Luc Blanc, Andrea Celeste La Forgia & Max Fletcher, Costanza Candeloro, Thomas Hesse, Elza Javakhishvili, Peter Kamm, Sarah Lehnerer, Birgit Megerle, Angelbert Metoyer, Mathis Pfäffli, Matthias Sohr, Megan Francis Sullivan, Anna Zacharoff

1st Verse: The Gallery Opening
2nd Verse: The Classroom Lecture
3rd Verse: The Studio Visit
4th Verse: The Living Room Dinner

The exhibition Didactic Poetry brings together paper works arranged in small groupings by 15 artists. Their narration takes shape at the intersection of didactics and poetry. In their practices, the artists pursue and exhibit a relational critique of, a precise sensitivity to, and a finely honed notion of this charged dynamic. The works reflect different concepts and understandings of pedagogy, labor, poetry, and gallery.

In the dynamic of didactics and poetry, there exist aporias that yield discursive and social potentials. The ancient genre of didactic poetry (German: Lehrgedicht) is associated with a high degree of metapoetic self-reflection. The exhibition considers the question as to what extent the didactic potential inherent in the works provides insights into the artists’ poetic intentions and those of the works themselves.

Varying settings highlight the conditions in which different modes of engagement take place, allowing for changes in the status of the works and the roles of the actors involved. In this context, conceptualizations, positions, and conditions of artworks are examined, insofar as they are capable of generating their own discourses, but are also available as applied pedagogical tools.

The question of how a gallery can contribute to educational endeavors involving pedagogical practices, social engagement, and intellectual enrichment will be juxtaposed and integrated with the gallery’s usual range of tasks on July 1st. We extend a warm invitation.