Author Description

"This book was published on the occasion of Edmund de Waal: psalm, a two-part exhibition in Venice. The first part took place at the Scuola Canton, a sixteenth-century synagogue under the aegis of the Museo Ebraico, and featured new installations of porcelain, marble, and gold that reflect the literary and musical heritage of the place. For the second part, at Ateneo Veneto, de Waal constructed a small library within the main space that houses two thousand books written by exiled authors from Ovid's time to the present day. The publication includes new texts by de Waal; novelist Ben Okri; and Shaul Bassi, professor of English at Ca' Foscari University of Venice; as well as a short story by Rainer Maria Rilke and a conversation between the artist and author David Grossman" -- Gagosian website