The Tour

What if an artwork changes its shape and sense with every encounter? Is there such a thing as polyphonic meaning, resulting from the interactions with an artwork? Barbara Preisig’s semi-fictional play brings the reader to a scene at Kunstmuseum Bern. It tells the story of a guided public tour through El Anatsui’s Solo exhibition Triumphant Scale. The curator, eager to provide key information about the works, finds herself in a vivid discussion around Anatsui’s work Gravity and Grace. Does the artwork’s shape resemble an elephant? Should the patterns remind us of the colorful Ghanaian fabrics or, in contrast, do they depict nothing but light, form, transparency and physicality? May El Anatsui be called an African artist or not? The audience – among them a protestant pastor, a musician, the artist, seven-year-old Emma – gathers on stage, observed by the narrator, who listens closely to their interpretations. When suddenly five historical busts, part of the neo-classical staircase, get involved in an argument with the artwork, the discussion threatens to get out of hand.