A launch and celebratory reading in association with The Berlin Writers' Workshop, 'The Loveliest Vowel Empties', presents the collected poems of legendary Swiss Surrealist Meret Oppenheim. It is the first time that the work has appeared in English, and is printed with facing-page originals in German and French. The translator Kathleen Heil will discuss her approach to translating the poems and read excerpts from the book, followed by a conversation with contemporary art critic and curator An Paenhuysen.
Meret Oppenheim was born in Berlin in 1913 and died in Basel in 1985. Best known for
Object, her fur-lined teacup from 1936, her expansive body of work included painting, drawing, sculpture, object constructions, jewelry designs, and poetry.
Kathleen Heil is a writer/translator and choreographer/performer whose poetry, prose, and translations appear in
The New Yorker, Fence, The Threepenny Review, and other journals. Originally from New Orleans, she lives and works in Berlin.
An Paenhuysen is an art critic, cultural historian, and curator of contemporary art in Berlin. She has written for
Berlin Art Link, Contemporary &, and
Spex, and co-curated exhibitions at the Hamburger Bahnhof and Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien.