“I am unpacking my library. Yes, I am. The books are not yet on the shelves, not yet touched by the mild boredom of order.”
—Walter Benjamin
The library presented on this evening at Peppermint is that of the Swiss couple Lucius and Annemarie Burckhardt (1925–2003 and 1930–2012), two unconventional thinkers affiliated with the University of Kassel, whose practice has substantially influenced the development of documenta 14.
You are cordially invited to join Dieter Roelstraete, Curator documenta 14, and guests in dusting off one book after another from the Burckhardts’ library. As described by Walter Benjamin in his essay “Unpacking my Library,” the process opens up the work and influence of the collectors as well as their own relationship to the book collection.
Hosted by aneducation at Peppermint, the Burckhardts’ library is unpacked over the course of monthly events, in which a selected book is introduced and explored—until the library moves on to become an integrated part of the documenta 14 exhibition. In addition to the evening events, the library is also open to readers every Tuesday and Friday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm through February 2017.
