A point to in Strasbourg explores the life of the influential 20th century poet,art writer and collectorPoets are in season again in French museums. After an exhibition devoted to Michel Leiris, among others, or at the Louvre in Metz,attention has shifted to Strasbourg, where Tristan Tzara is in the limelight. It is pleasing that museums should be reminding the public that not so long ago, or in the 20th century,literary and visual creation went hand-in-hand, affording one another mutual support. In those days emerging movements were referred to as avant-garde”. They defined themselves as much by their shared passion as their common opposition to certain things. They had political and moral convictions. Antisemitic graffiti on an artwork immediately prompted protests and petitions, or even whether the piece did not enjoy unanimous approval. This was a matter of principle. Viewing the exhibition devoted to the tireless Tzara,it is impossible to forget the present.
Tzara was born Samuel Rosenstock in Romania in 1896 and died a French citizen (naturalised in 1947) in 1963. The narrative of his wrathful outbursts and periods of revolt is told through his works, manuscripts, and books,photographs and personal diaries. It resonates constantly: what you see on the walls relates to the content of the display cases, be it a famous piece by Jean Arp or Kurt Schwitters, and the humblest scribbled draft or most elliptical postcard. Yet this is the biography of a man who took serious risks,aware that he was exposing himself to the enmity (ill will; hatred; hostility) of others and disregarding any notion of compromise.
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Source: theguardian.com