In the Skeleton of the Stars

The exhibition In the Skeleton of the Stars, set in the Caribbean and the Amazon basin, is dedicated to the imagination’s political potential. It presents memories, tales and histories that have shaped this imagination, including indigenous mythologies and the violent conquest of the South American continent, through what Édouard Glissant calls the “tropical night” and its “spirits and figures that weigh on the shoulders.” The tropical night—the noise and silence, and the darkness and light—thus opens a portal into different orders of reality, unlocks the imagination and allows us to re-configure our position in the world. The exhibition is also inspired by the decolonial and ecological vision of Guyanese author Wilson Harris, whose texts connect the Amazon basin landscape with its inhabitants’ psychic landscape. His stories describe a quest for oneness and follow ancient alchemical thinking in which the material world is intrinsically linked to the human soul. Throughout, Harris imagines a collective unconscious in which humans, nature, flora and fauna are part of the same being and which bridges times and cultures.

With works by Minia Biabiany, Pamela Colman Smith, Karl Joseph and Marc-Alexandre Tareau, Mirtho Linguet, Loren Minzú, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Marcel Pinas, Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Concept by Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc and Lea Altner in collaboration with ifa Gallery Stuttgart.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue in German and English.

Programme
Conversation
Friday, February 17, 6:30pm 
The curators Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc and Lea Altner discuss the concept and give insights into the exhibition.

Guided tours
Thursday, March 2 / Friday, March 10 / Thursday, March 23 / Friday, April 21, each 4pm

Workshop—Playing with Chance
Sunday, March 5, 2pm
For the whole family with parents, grandparents, godparents. Children from 5 years.

Tarot Cards Reading
Sunday, March 12, 4 to 6:30pm
In tribute to Pamela Colman Smith, whose Annancy Stories are part of the exhibition, Moriz Stangl will have the guests aim tarot cards.

Long Night of the Museums
Saturday, March 25, 6pm to 1am
The gallery team will guide you through the exhibition, with hourly short tours.

Reading
Friday, April 21, 7pm
Barbara Stoll reads from Palace of the Peacock by Wilson Harris.
 

About ifa Gallery and ifa
The ifa Gallery Stuttgart presents contemporary art in a global perspective, addressing post-colonial movements and artistic reflections on the themes of migration and cultural transfer. In times of social and economic transformation conventional ascriptions have become unreliable, and so our exhibitions are based on co-creative processes with global and local collaboration. Different voices are heard as they combine to form a multi-layered shared space in which visitors are included.

As an independent intermediary organisation, ifa—Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen plays a leading role in international artistic and cultural exchange, and its work helps to shape Germany’s international cultural relations. ifa is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the state of Baden-Württemberg and the state capital Stuttgart.