«When I look back on my life it’s not that I don’t want to see things exactly as they happened, it’s just that I prefer to remember them in an artistic way. And truthfully the lie of it all is much more honest because I invented it. Clinical psychology tells us arguably that trauma is the ultimate killer. Memories are not recycled like atoms and particles in quantum physics. They can be lost forever. It’s sort of like my past is an unfinished painting and as the artist of that painting I must fill in all the ugly holes, and make it beautiful again. It’s not that I have been dishonest; it’s just that I loathe reality.»
– Lady Gaga, The Prelude Pathétique – First Part, Marry the Night
Samuel Haitz (*1997) invites to two consecutive soirées and the simultaneously running exhibition «Memorabilia» at Cabaret Voltaire. Haitz recently moved from Zurich to Berlin. An occasion to take stored souvenirs in hand, to arrange, preserve and transfigure memories. At Cabaret Voltaire, he brings together his own works, works by friends and idols, and other objects that reflect codes of desire and belonging. For the soirées, he invites his artistic companions Milena Langer, Stella and Ian Wooldridge to read texts together. To round off, his friend DJ Moritz Müller interprets the events musically. Soirée 1 (Before) is dedicated to hope and romantic utopia; Soirée 2 (After) focuses on nostalgic reflection of the past. The events will be broadcast online in collaboration with the Bernese Radio Bollwerk. In this stagnant time of social distance and absence, a space is thus created to reflect on which personal and collective culture of memory should shape one's future.
Soirée 1 (Before) took place on the 02.03.2021 and Soirée 2 (After) took place on the 09.03.2021. You can re-listen to both soirées here. With Samuel Haitz, Milena Langer, Stella, Ian Wooldridge and Moritz Müller (DJ-Set) via radio-bollwerk.ch.
Exhibition view, Samuel Haitz, Archive Table, «Memorabilia», 2021. Photo: Cabaret Voltaire, Philipp Hänger
