GARDEN OF MEMORY
Etel Adnan – Simone Fattal – Bob Wilson
May 24 - September 16 2018
Musee YSL Marrakech

This exhibition has been conceived as a conversation between three artists: Etel Adnan, Simone Fattal and Robert Wilson. It was inspired by their shared experiences, whether in Morocco, Lebanon, California or Paris. Garden of Memory is built around these different localities, yet transposes them. The artists’ experiences in these different places have framed the contours of the exhibition. They create the foundation, and at times impetus, for the exhibition, but are not its subject.

Garden of Memory reveals itself as a non-linear narrative, a mental landscape, a choreography combining poetry, sound and sculpture. The thrust behind it all is a poem by Etel Adnan, “Conversation with my soul (III)”, read by Robert Wilson over music by Michael Galasso. In turn, Simone Fattal responds to the poem by manifesting the profound coherence between the various creative elements. Her sculptures – stelai, figures and angels – discretely exalt the capacity for listening and understanding, for perceiving and recording.

The fundamental meaning of this exhibition is found less in the individual works, and more in the hidden treasure they collectively contain. It is a paradoxical space. It is an act of commitment; a manifestation of friendship and love. The public is invited to savour and feel emotions that have been gathered and condensed by the artists.

Curator: Mouna Mekouar
Exhibition designer: Christophe Martin