Burcu Sahin, poet and translator, will read excerpts of her collection Broderier (Albert Bonniers Förlag), acclaimed by Swedish critics, in a French translation by Esther Sermage. The act of embroidering becomes a way of allowing the inexpressible trauma of exile to surface. Hands are a means of expression; stitching is a language. From this emerges a choice: to shape one’s personality by following the thread or to find oneself by breaking it. These themes resonate with the work of Tarik Kiswanson, particularly The Weavers’ Machines, a work in which weaving conveys the coexisting realities of rootedness and uprootedness, of home and elsewhere. The individual fibre contributes to the creation of a collective fabric, in which one is both oneself and the other, thread and pattern. Although thread and weave hold different meanings for Sahin and Kiswanson, these artists converge in their exploration of fragmented identities.
CHOUF, a French artist and author, will share excerpts from Vie Mort Vie (Tumulte Éditions), a hybrid and performative work that explores the dynamics of conflict, migration and transformation in European suburbs.
Tarik Kiswanson will read poems from his various collections. His writings, like his visual art, explores the concomitant realities of uprooting and rootedness, resilience and reconstruction.
Useful Information
- Readings in Swedish and French (Swedish readings will be translated into French).
- Tarik Kiswanson’s readings will be in English.
- The exchange between Tarik Kiswanson and invited poets will be in English.