Salon d’Amour is a long- term art and research project by Margret Wibmer, exploring love as a transformative power in a polarised world. In the following you find an introduction to the artist publication (Ltd. Ed. 300, broadsheet, newsprint, 50×70 cm), an art work in its own right, released in January 2024.
‘Salon d’Amour’ artist publication by Margret Wibmer. A collaboration with communication agency PEACH Wien. 2024
The poems, love letters, excerpts from novels and guest contributions included in this publication are carefully chosen and are meant as a tool for exploring our own inner dimensions and the infinite tapestry of human existence. Meandering through various historical times and world locations, into transient spaces that invite an exploration of love as an antidote to its commodified version, readers are introduced to a world of beauty, uncertainty and imagination. The texts included in my publication are only slivers of literary gems by renown artists and writers that I encourage anyone to explore further.
Excerpts from James Baldwin’s ‘Another Country’. Masks by Margret Wibmer. Concept Margret Wibmer in collaboration with PEACH Wien. 2024
This publication is released in parallel with the eponymous masked performance, a long-term project, developed in collaboration with various institutions, organisations and independent curators around the world. These performances,engage members of the public through written and spoken language and wearable props, specifically the masks that I developed for ‘Salon d’Amour’, some are included in the artist publication. They symbolise distance, darkness, mystery, fear, invisibility as well as intimacy, protection and beauty. These ambiguous qualities reflect the complexity of love relations. The masks as props assist in building bridges between self and the other(s), during what could be described as a ritual or exercise, a performative act and multifaceted journey where spoken words become material, collectively engage participants in a dynamic interplay.
Mask by Margret Wibmer. Excerpts from ‘A literary Passion’ Letters of Anäis Nin & Henry Miller. Concept Margret Wibmer in collaboration with PEACH Wien. 2024.
Mask by Margret Wibmer. Concept Margret Wibmer in collaboration with PEACH Wien. 2024
This artist publication includes special contributions by artists / writers Marianna Maruyama, Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Camila Sposati.
Special contribution by Marianna Maruyama. These drawing are part of her contribution which also includes an excerpt from her latest manuscript ‘Roma é Blu’.
Special contribution by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, author of ‘Guantanamo Diary’.
Special contribution by Camila Sposati. ‘Smoke actions’ on these and the following pages in the artist publication.
Art works my Margret Wibmer, Archival quality pigment prints. Ltd. Ed. 5
About the Book
Limited Edition: 300
Editor: Margret Wibmer
Concept: Margret Wibmer, PEACH Wien. 2024
Graphic Design: PEACH Wien
Project coordination and image processing: Margret Wibmer
Text: Margret Wibmer, authors and publishers. Marianna Maruyama, Camila Sposati, Lotte Møller,, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Frida Kahlo (Abrams Books); James Baldwin (Penguin Modern Classics); May Ziadeh (The LA Review); Anaïs Nin, Henry Miller (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); Ursula K. Le Guin (Shambhala); John Cage (Wesleyan University Press)
Translations: Margret Wibmer, Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Final Editing: Margret Wibmer. Lithography and printing: Newspaperclub.com
Special thanks to Georgia Grace Bosnie, Marianna Maruyama, Louis Etoundi Menanga, Lina Ramadan, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Camila Sposati, Malaya Wibmer and supporters via contribute.to
This publication was made possible with financial support by het Cultuurfonds/Tijl Fonds, Jaap Harten Fonds, FondsKwadraat, Abteilung Kultur Land Tirol.
All rights reserved © Studio Margret Wibmer, authors and publishers. Printed in the UK