Paris Calligrammes

Editor: Bernd M. Scherer, Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Publisher: Haus der Kulturen der Welt / Hatje Cantz, 2019
192 pages, German, English, French
300 illustrations, many in color, bound
ISBN 978-3-7757-4637-3
Price: €24

Available at Haus der Kulturen der Welt and at bookstores, mail order buying / postal shopping via the Webshop

Table of contents | Extract 1 [PDF] | Extract 2 [PDF]

Memories of Paris in the past and present: Paris Calligrammes links screenplay excerpts from Ulrike Ottinger’s latest film with thematic photo series, whether on the presence of colonialism in the cityscape, the political revolts of the 1960s when the artist lived in Paris, the “Algerian Trauma” or on Fritz Picard, the founder of the legendary German-language bookstore Librairie Calligrammes, a point of contact in Paris for German exiles during the Nazi era.

The prelude is a “little flânerie” of “strolling and seeing” in Paris by Ulrike Ottinger herself, followed by Aleida Assmann’s reflections on the filmmaker, who is out and about “with open eyes” in the sociotope of the French metropolis. Laurence A. Rickels, psychotherapist and literary scholar, analyzes Ulrike Ottinger’s work in comparison to other outstanding personalities from the cultural field such as Gertrude Stein, who had made Paris their home in the early twentieth century. The finale consists of illustrations of the impressive fabric appliqués the artist created especially for the exhibition at HKW.

In this book, Ulrike Ottinger offers fascinating insights into her working methods while creating a cross-temporal topography of Paris, from the aftershocks of the Second World War to the transculturally influenced present.