Portrait
Litar – a place for literature and its promotion. Zurich’s Galerie Litar hosts regular exhibitions and events on literary topics. We also produce publications and projects in the fields of literature, translation and the media.
Litar aims to spark ideas, discover new things and start conversations about rarely raised subjects. To do so, we work with programmes that run for several years and encompass a range of formats. We run our projects ourselves or in collaboration with other institutions.
The Litar Foundation is a non-profit organization; it does not accept funding applications.
Newsletter
Thank you for your interest in Litar. Our newsletter is published in German and informs readers about our current projects and upcoming events. It is sent out four to six times a year and can be cancelled at any time.
Programmes
Litar works on thematic projects that run over several years. Our objective is to explore literary content off the beaten track. In a fast-moving world, Litar takes the time for an in-depth examination of a subject, allowing it to develop on a regional, national and international basis and take effect far beyond the scope of the original programme.
litafrika
Exhibition Trilogy 2022–2024
Litar | Strauhof Zurich
Artistic Encounters
Strauhof Zurich, 16/06–03/09/2023
Eight scenes from contemporary African literatures: curator Zukiswa Wanner stages encounters between current novels and performance, music or visual art. Across national and linguistic borders, the exhibition sheds light on a generation of writers who are well connected and internationally active.
Zukiswa Wanner responds to the first part of the exhibition series “litafrika” (2022–2024) with eight prose texts. As a continuation of “Poetries of a Continent” (2022), she puts the emphasis on novels instead of poems, focal points instead of abundance – and above all on the diverse stories of younger authors instead of the postcolonial classics: what topics do contemporary literary figures deal with today? How do artists stage the selected passages?
“The exhibition comprises some of the most gifted contemporary authors, musicians, actors and visual artists of my generation from English, French and Portuguese-speaking Africa. The countries represented in this exhibition make only 25% of my Africa’s nations but as a pan-Africanist, I choose to disregard the borders and prefer to focus on how our stories, sounds, expressions and art that you will see here resonate across the world’s second largest continent.” Zukiswa Wanner
For “Artistic Encounters”, partnerships have been created that transfer literature into videos and artworks and at the same time deepen the dialogue between language regions through text translations. The exhibition is designed to be shown on the African continent as well.
“Some, you will have heard of. Others, I hope you will be thrilled to learn of in this exhibition.”
Ishmael Beah (Sierra Leone): Radiance of Tomorrow (2014)
x Shaffik Manzi (Rwanda): visual artist
Virgília Ferrão (b. 1986, Mozambique): Os Nossos Feitiços (2022)
x Jussara Camble (São Tomé and Príncipe): actress
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Nigeria): Season of Crimson Blossoms (2015)
x Maïmouna Jallow (Gambia): actress
Angela Makholwa (South Africa): Critical But Stable (2021)
x Michael Soi (Kenya): visual artist
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda): The First Woman (2020)
x Ntombephi Ntobela (South Africa): visual artist
Yara Nakahanda Monteiro (Angola): Essa Dama Bate Bue (2018)
x Zubz the Last Letter (Zambia): musician
Fiston Mwanza Mujila (DR Congo): Tram 83 (2014)
x Prudence Katomeni (Zimbabwe): musician
Ondjaki (Angola): Os Transparentes (2012)
x Seeretse (Botswana): musician
Curation
Zukiswa Wanner (b. 1976, Zambia) is a writer and literary mediator; she lives in South Africa and Kenya. Wanner has published short stories, novels, and children’s books and was on the “Africa39” list in 2014; in 2020, she received the Goethe Medal for her services to international cultural exchange.
litafrika 2022–2024
Strauhof and the Litar Foundation are dedicating the exhibition trilogy “litafrika” (2022–2024) to literatures from the African continent. The first exhibition “Poetries of a Continent”, based on the anthology “Afrika im Gedicht” (Zurich 2015) by the Swiss literary mediator Al Imfeld, stages a selection of exemplary poems in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic from postcolonial classics to the current slam and spoken word scene. The exhibition was curated by Christa Baumberger and Rémi Jaccard. Zukiswa Wanner wrote the concept for “Artistic Encounters” after visiting “Poetries of a Continent”. The third part (2024) of the project is still in development.
Pro Helvetia “To-gather” 2022–2024
Pro Helvetia supports “litafrika” over its entire duration in the “To-gather” programme. This funding vehicle enables new intercontinental collaborations and the establishment of long-term networks. The aim is to make the exchange between cultures more equal and sustainable as well as to test new forms of collaboration.
litafrika, part 1
Reader “litafrika – Poesien eines Kontinents | Poetries of a Continent”
Edited by Christa Baumberger and Rémi Jaccard, 2022.
Designed by Rahel Arnold
With texts and images from and about the exhibition.
Reader in English and German. Poems in original languages and German translation.
Info and order: info@strauhof.ch
Anthology “Afrika im Gedicht”
Edited by Al Imfeld, Münsterverlag, 2015.
Poems in original languages and German translation.
Info and order: Münster Verlag
litafrika, part 3
Strauhof Zurich, June – September 2024
The third exhibition will be developed jointly in the course of the project.
Al Imfeld Article Collection
The collection of articles by the Swiss theologian and Africa journalist Al Imfeld contains newspaper articles on the literatures of the entire African continent from 1960 to 2014. The collection can be viewed at Litar by prior appointment. Al Imfeld article collection: Inventory
Contact: info@litar.ch
Erased from Swiss history: in the diary (from 1827) of Louis Wyrsch, a Swiss military commander serving in the Dutch colonial army in Borneo, the entries about his local ‘housekeeper’ Ibu Silla were excised. | Digital copy: Bernhard C. Schär, rights: Staatsarchiv Nidwalden
Stimmlos
Literature and (In-)Justice
Which voices do we hear and who is denied a voice? Litar provides a platform for writers who were heard too rarely, for a wide range of reasons. Some were institutionalized or even declared incapable of speaking for themselves. Others withdrew and eventually fell silent. What remains is written traces, stories and novels, documents of their lives and sometimes also visual works. The “Stimmlos” (“Unvoiced”) programme acts as an amplifier, following these quiet voices, providing a space for the unheard and presenting stories that have not yet been written.
An installation at Galerie Litar allows visitors to experience the theme of “Unvoiced” with all their senses. Changing exhibitions are shown in a walk-in cell. Voices sound out, combined with images, photography and film. The cell’s confining walls invite visitors to cross mental boundaries.
Damian Le Bas, Crisis Time / Refugee Could Be You Could Be Me, 2016 | Photo: Kai Dikhas, Diego Castellano Cano
Weltenweit
Yenish, Sinti and Roma Literatures
Under the title “Weltenweit” (“Worlds Wide”), Litar has focused since 2019 on Yenish, Sinti and Roma literatures and cultures. Switzerland has recognized the Yenish and Sinti as national minorities since 2016. The Roma are still fighting for official recognition in the country, however. The cultures of these minorities are rich and diverse – and yet barely known. Litar organized the “Weltenweit” Festival at Kosmos Zurich (5 and 6 April 2019) to change that. For the first time in Switzerland, Yenish, Sinti and Roma culture formed the focus of a festival. Since then, Litar has held readings, workshops, teaching events and panels in various places in Switzerland and Austria, on our own or in cooperation with institutions such as RomArchive, Initiative Minderheiten Tirol and Radgenossenschaft.
Current publication
Morphing the Roma Label
Roma Jam Session art Kollektiv (Mo Diener, RR Marki and Milena Petrovic)
Published by Mo Diener and RR Marki, Zurich 2022.
Texts in German, English and Romanes.
Info and order: OnCurating.org
Publication and translations into Romanes were made possible with the support of Litar.
Agenda
Unless otherwise specified, events are listed in the language or the languages in which they will be held.
Information on past events is available here.
Galerie Litar
Galerie Litar stages exhibitions and holds events and workshops.
Martin Dreyfus collection, photo: Ayse Yavas.
Upcoming exhibition
Previous exhibitions
Contact
The Litar Foundation is based at Letzistrasse 23, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland. We host regular exhibitions and events.
How to get to Litar:
- Tram 10 from Zurich central station to Letzistrasse (10 mins)
- Tram 10 from Zurich airport to Letzistrasse (20 mins)
- Tram 9 from Bellevueplatz to Letzistrasse (10 mins)
Litar © Zeljko Gataric
Litar
Letzistrasse 23, CH-8006 Zurich
Tel. +41 44 291 99 00
info@litar.ch
www.litar.ch
Newsletter
Thank you for your interest in Litar. Our newsletter is published in German and informs readers about our current projects and upcoming events. It is sent out four to six times a year and can be cancelled at any time.
Team
Photos team: Ayse Yavas