2019-05-21
Nanni Balestrini is dead
The ZKM mourns one of the most important representatives of the Italian post-war avant-garde
As a poet, artist, writer and editor, as a magazine founder and organizer of literary festivals, Nanni Balestrini played a key role in the emergence and implementation of the literary neo-avant-garde.
Since the 1950s he has been one of the most important representatives of Italian culture. Born in Milan in 1935, the artist died on May 20, 2019 at the age of 83.
In Germany, he was best known for his political novels. »We want everything« (1971), »The Invisible« (1987) and »The Publisher« (1989) deal with the political history of Italy and the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. As a result of his left-wing political commitment, Balestrini went into exile to France in 1979. Since 1985 he has lived and worked in Rome, Milan and Paris.
»It is poetry that chose me. I was not the one who chose it. It happened that way and I am happy about it.«
Nanni Balestrini’s varied poetic and artistic works are based on the poetics of collage, a method which uses fractures, fragments and combinatorics. This connective principle can be seen in Balestrini’s visual collages and in his pioneering experiments with computer-generated poetry.
For anyone reading ths there is nothing left to fear
The ZKM dedicated Balestrini the exhibition »For anyone reading ths there is nothing left to fear« in spring 2017, providing an extensive insight into his visual poetic oeuvre. Collages and cut-ups from images, texts and film sequences show a life’s work, which has turned against the «inertia of language« and, therefore, against the stiffness of thought and action.
