Exhibition Catalogue

What We Brought with Us: Exhibition at Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach, October 25 – November 30, 2022. Curated by Vanessa Agnew and Annika Roux & Photography by Jobst von Kunowski

When people are forced from their homes, their things carry symbolic weight. They represent the human relations that constitute a settled life. Yet things also stand for hope: they are a seed that must bear fruit in strange ground. Refugee things aren’t always judiciously chosen; they may be selected in haste and confusion. En route, things are lost, traded, and stolen, or jettisoned because they can’t be carried a step farther. What is retained may acquire new meaning and become the metonym for an entire life.

What We Brought with Us makes us question our cPlease find here the link to the announcement on the website of the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach.

The exhibition What We Brought with Us presents the belongings of people with exile backgrounds who have held 'fellowships at Academy in Exile (AiE) in Berlin and Essen. The exhibition represents the complexities faced by those who experience flight from a country of origin, exile elsewhere, and often signiflcant forms of barder violence on their journeys in an era of unprecedented state securitization targeting migrants and refugees.

At the same time, the role of art in society and the role of museums, galleries, and public spaces, accessible ta a broad public, offer important counterpoints in tell­ing alternative stories af lives and futures. The present time af widespread war, violence, and crisis has made artists and other cultural producers all the rnore vital in interpretation and meaning-making. In this complex con­text, Academy in Exile provides an important space for respite, reflection, collaboration, and creation.