Kleist: Crisis and Experiment

An exhibition of cultural history in the context
of the Kleist Memorial Year 2011

The exhibition is being developed according to a concept by Kleist expert Günter Blamberger and exhibition producer Stefan Iglhaut and will take place under their curatorship. The initial idea is to expand on the customary formats and presentations of literary exhibitions  – autographic documents and archive materials, documentation of the history of reception, editions and illustrations – with ensembles and staged presentations of cultural history, especially as so few historical-biographical objects have survived. The aim is to interpret the motifs that stimulated and shaped Kleist’s thinking in a visual-spatial manner and to reconstruct his ideas for projects and their historical contexts. It is only possible to understand Kleist against the background of the atmosphere of radical departure around 1800. The consequences of revolution and the new order in Europe, the “code civil” and the reforms in Prussia, the popular science of the age in physics and chemistry, and the fascination of galvanic experiments were important thematic and historical contexts without which Kleist’s pioneering ideas could not be adequately acknowledged. In numerous accompanying events concerning cultural and art-historical subjects, in discussions and talks by artists and academics, with film versions of Kleist’s works, readings or evenings of music performing Kleist’s poetry set to music, the overall aim is to convey to a wide audience Kleist’s continuing relevance and the importance of his cultural legacy. The exhibition will later represent the foundation for a new permanent exhibition at the Kleist Museum in Frankfurt (Oder). In this sense it will also adopt a pilot function in the design of literary exhibitions.

Direction: Prof. Dr. Günter Blamberger, Stefan Iglhaut

Venues and dates: Ephraim-Palais, Foundation City Museum Berlin and Kleist Museum Frankfurt (Oder), each in the second half of 2011

Contact: info@heinrich-von-kleist.org