42 Vensters op Warten auf den Fluss

Barbara Kohler

In 2016, at the invitation of the Rotterdam artist collective Observatorium, the German poet Barbara Köhler (1959–1921) visited the habitable installation Warten auf den Fluss – a wooden zigzag bridge that has been built in various places in the Ruhrgebiet since 2010, waiting for the river to flow in the Emscher. Köhler participated in that waiting, wrote her poems during and about the waiting and let the waiting sink in as it occurs in her own language and in other languages, including Dutch. She made 42 texts in flawless square form, as many windows on a changing, degraded landscape as on a life that slips by before you know it. Barbara Köhler died unexpectedly in January 2021, the collection is published in memory of her and her inspiring work. With an afterword by Andre Dekker and Ton Naaijkens.

BARBARA KÖHLER (1959–2021) was a prominent German poet, essayist and translator, born in Burgstädt in Saxony. She debuted with Deutsches Roulette (1991), translated work by Gertrude Stein and made text installations. 42 Ansichten zu Warten auf den Fluss was her last publication (2017). ANDRE DEKKER (1956) is a sculptor, installation artist and writer, who has been associated with the artists' group the Observatory since 1997. TON NAAIJKENS (1953) is an essayist and translator. His latest publication is the translation and delivery of the Collected Works of Paul Celan (Athenaeum – Polak & Van Gennep, 2020).