6 March – 9 May 2010 |
Kunstverein’s Store for Independent Publishing
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Kunstverein’s Store for Independent Publishing presents
False Friends by Garamond Press
7 March – 9 May 2010
Private view: 6 March, 6–8 pm
Antonio Pigafetta’s questionable travelogue from 1591, titled Regnum Congo, was based upon stories from Duarte Lopez, a Portuguese explorer who supposedly visited the Congo. The travelogue introduces an odd vision of European landscape in which fantastic creatures are presented. South-African artist Ruth Sacks re-contextualizes these historical interpretations by re-appropriating them into contemporary conditions, juxtaposing the varied characteristics. Hence the logo of her fictional publishing house, Garamond Press: a fantastic animal based upon a description of one of the possible animals from Regnum Congo.
Kunstverein is proud to present and produce the Garamond Press’ first publication False Friends. The narrative of the book derives from the storyline of Edgar Allen Poe’s “Murders at the Rue Morgue” from 1841, generally agreed to be the first detective story ever written. This contemporary version is set in Antwerp, Belgium, and is split into three languages: Dutch (Flemish), French and English. To follow the story’s plot, one has to be fluent in all three languages.