Andreas Liebmann

Habla conmigo

I have a golden suitcase and I’m taking it to Bolivia, South America. The suitcase was given to me by my mother, Switzerland, and in it there is always room for the essential things I need to live. Except encounters. They always have to be created anew.

I was involved in an exhibition of performances with several European and Bolivian artists in the Museo Tambo La Paz. We were invited to show our art there. At the beginning I was at a loss. What should I show here, and why? I didn’t want to warm up any of my performances, which were created in Europe. I first wanted to find out where I was, what kind of country it was, what kind of people. To whom am I relating myself here at all? And so “Habla conmigo” came into being.

I traveled through the Andes for one week, and spent two weeks in public places in La Paz. I always put up a sign asking people to talk to me (“Habla conmigo”). From a series of questions written on cards, people could pick one. This determined the topic of the conversation: questions about the community, the relationship between Euroa and Bolivia, questions of political perspective and cultural imprint.

The conversations resulted in texts and portraits, which I made accessible to the visitor in the museum as a “wall book” – a wall full of pictures and texts about my encounters with Bolivians. Throughout the exhibition, art students continued the Habla conmigo performance in the museum itself with visitors.

Concept, performance Andreas Liebmann Curator Harm Lux Production Museo Tambo, La Paz