Positions: Leonie Brandner

Wilting Moss and Night Dreaming Flowers

The presentation 'Wilting Moss and Night Dreaming Flower' showcases the artist's lines of thought, written, sung, material and sensual.

Positions: Leonie Brandner bij Stroom foto: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag

Location: Stroom, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
When: 7 May - 12 June 2022
Open: Wednesday - Sunday: 12:00 - 17:00 hrs

As part of her wider research into the ethnobotanical relevance of mosses, Leonie Brandner came across the song Canzun de Sontga Margriata, the oldest piece of oral history in the Swiss native Romansh language. It tells the story of Saint Margaret, of her betrayal by humans and her subsequent disappearance. Remarkably however, the story in the song traces the outlines of a culture and belief system far older than the Romansh language: concealed in the figure of a Christian saint, historians found traces of the ancient Alpine goddess Raetia. She was the goddess of fertility and of writing of the Rhaetians, an indigenous tribe living in the rough terrain of the Swiss Alps in 300 BC. Little is known about the Rhaetians today, as Christianity swallowed up most of their traces. Ancient customs became Christian customs, Rhaetian rituals turned into Christian rituals, even their goddesses became Christian saints, so too did Raetia who turned into Saint Margaret.

With the current presentation at Stroom - Wilting Moss and Night Dreaming Flowers - Leonie Brandner wants to emphasize what is hiding from our perception by showing a collection of ‘fragments': fragments of thought, fragments of touch, fragments of history, fragments of fleeting moments. By presenting this collection, the artist wants to open up a space to tell multifaceted stories, imagined from a range of non-human perspectives such as the wind, minerals, rocks and flowers, worlds that sparkle with joy and vitality while holding and embracing the sadness of living. Wilting Moss and Night Dreaming Flowers combines elements of her research, such as music, storytelling, films of fossilised seeds, and mosses - the first land-growing plants - and evening primroses - a flower blossoming at night.

Parallel to this presentation, Leonie Brandner is collaborating with the opera singer Nina Guo to breathe new life into the ancient scores of the Canzun de Sontga Margriata. They are using the words, the story they carry, the melody they provide as a catalyst for a project they call the Moss Opera. Leonie Brandner received a Stroom Invest grant in 2021 and is one of the participants in this year's Stroom Invest Week 2022.

Program Positions
Stroom Den Haag started a new program line this year under the title Positions. Positions features artists based in The Hague and showcases both new work and work in progress, offering an insight into the great diversity of their practice. During the year, next to exhibitions, Stroom provides a platform for additional events like experimental presentations, lectures and performances. The first iteration - Positions: Time-Based - was on view from 6 February to 3 April 2022.

PRESS
>> Jegens & Tevens, Stroom Invest interviews / artist Leonie Brandner
12 May 2022

LINKS
>> Profile Leonie Brandner on thehagueartists.nl
>> www.leoniebrandner.com

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