Friedrich Dürrenmatt, 1963 | Swiss Literary Archives (SLA), Bern, Friedrich Dürrenmatt Bequest.
Exhibition
28 March - 30 November 2021 · Museum Hermann Hesse Montagnola
The three German-speaking authors - however only Dürrenmatt was born in Switzerland - chose to live in a location where a language different from their own is spoken and where viticulture plays an important role: the cantons of Valais, Ticino and Neuchâtel, which today host museums focused on the life and work of these three very different poets and writers. It is wine that unites Rilke, Hesse and Dürrenmatt. It characterizes the place where they live and it is part of their lifestyle even when they consciously choose abstinence. Above all, wine is an important element in their literary works: it contributes, as a catalyst or as a metaphor, to make visible the theme and the message inherent to the text. With the help of quotations from letters and literary works, photographs, drawings and personal objects, the exhibition intends to illustrate the meaning and the importance of wine in the biographical and artistic context of the three authors.
Curators: Eva Zimmermann and Regina Bucher
A collaboration between the Fondazione Hermann Hesse Montagnola, the Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel and the Fondation Rilke (Sierre).
The exhibition will be held from March to November 2023, in the “Musée du Vin et de la Vigne” in Sierre and later in the Canton of Neuchâtel.
Photos from left to right:
Rainer Maria Rilke, ca. 1924 | Swiss Literary Archives (SLA), Bern, Rainer Maria Rilke Bequest.
Hermann Hesse, 1910 | Photo: Gret Widmann | ©Hermann Hesse Editionsarchiv Offenbach am Main
Friedrich Dürrenmatt, 1978 | Photo: G. Keirat | Swiss Literary Archives (SLA), Bern, Friedrich Dürrenmatt Bequest.