Ein Fisch der auf dem Trockenen Schwimmt
This scenic installation follows the life and exile of Frankfurt-born Jewish illustrator and writer Erna Pinner (1890–1987). An international, interdisciplinary team translates her legacy into a living space of performance, music, video, and memory.
Visitors drift through key stations of Pinner’s journey: the realm of animals, oceans of misunderstanding, the quiet paths of adaptation and resilience. Visual fragments, original texts, and performative moments become a landscape to walk through — not to observe from outside, but to enter.
An artist forced to leave her homeland. A new country — cold, fog-bound, unfamiliar. Work as survival. Letters to the few friends who remained alive. Solitude turned into creative force. A deeper trust in animals than in people.
Never mind, everyone muddles through.
Her words abstracted, fused with voice and music. A musical rendition of Pinner’s own language. The texts were reworked by Syrian Artist Abdulaziz Khayyat, and were accompanied by a visual mapping of Erna Pinner’s drawings.
A sound healing journey through her Italy vacations. Nature sounds, acoustic instruments, tuning forks. A room for resting alongside her.
Cold, blue, foggy. An experimental performance on exile and alienation. The damp of an unfamiliar city.
Warm colors, vibrant light, music from the 30s, 40s, 50s. A small performative installation of where she once was.
Abstract fragments of her texts turned into light.
Ten custom-built speakers, ten voices, ten texts recorded at Mörfelder Landstraße. All whispering at once. Intimate. Overlapping. Unfinished.
Team
Research & Direction
Martha Kottwitz
Dramaturgy
Friederike Weidner
Tech Art, Sound and Light Installations
Omar Tarawneh
Scenography and Costumes
Devin McDonough
Music
Omar Tarawneh (Omar Tara), Abdul Aziz Al Khayat
Performers
Anastasiia Struzhak, Abdul Aziz Al Khayat, Anne Greta Weber
Photography
Jessica Schäfer
Technical Assistance
Alwin Wilbert
Assistant
Ana Eskander
Details
Location
Location: Milchsackfabrik, Landungsbrücken Theatre, Frankfurt, 2025
Format: Scenic, Installative Performance