Susan Hiller -
Lost and Found

April 18, 2021–August 8, 2021
@ Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover (DE)

In Lost and Found (2016) Susan Hiller (1940-2019) thematizes
languages as collective forms of understanding and shaping the world. By retrieving language recordings from academic archives that were previously inaccessible to the public, she gives those languages and their speakers a new presence. The source material contains voices from twenty-three languages that are either already extinct or threatened with extinction. The speakers recite anecdotes, songs or memories in their languages, creating a unique sound collage. Hiller deliberately withholds the the image of the speakers and in this way creates space for the affective power of sound and one's own imagination. The oscillating line visualizes the sound waves that reach our ears and create a connection between the living and the dead through time and space. This connection creates the basis for an empathic perception of those who have lost their language or speak endangered languages and their hopes for a more positive future.

Curator: Lea Altner
Photo: © Susan Hiller / Courtesy Lisson Gallery and the Estate of Susan Hiller