Handkerchief
The sculpture "Handkerchief" is inspired by Herta Müller's Nobel Prize lecture, "Every Word Knows Something of a Vicious Circle." Against the backdrop of the Ceaușescu dictatorship in Romania, Müller shares personal anecdotes, such as her mother's daily question about her handkerchief. Müller illustrates how even seemingly simple words can carry a hidden, complex meaning, and how genuine human connection is replaced by a prescribed, empty vocabulary.
Historically, handkerchiefs often served as a medium for printing important social events. They were silent witnesses to tears, stories, love messages, and goodbyes, thus symbolizing personal narratives that are often not represented by traditional monuments. The sculpture "Handkerchief" depicts a textile sheath that transitions into a knotted handkerchief held in the arm, commonly signifying a memory prompt. Just as different personalities can be projected onto the sculpture, the work is not about one privileged perspective, but the exchange of knowledge and memories.
Handkerchief
2024
Patinated bronze; print on fabric, chicken wire, metal
40 x 45 x 15 cm; 205 x 105 x 3 cm
Exhibited at Habibi Kiosk, Kammerspiele Munich as part of the show Global Munich. In perspective 21.6. - 29.6.2024
Catalog in German and English, p. 30 - 35
History is what we carry with us by Luísa Telles
Supported by Käte Hamburger Kolleg global dis:connect Munich and Kammerspiele, Munich.
Photo credit: Michael Mönnich, Florian Laufhütte
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
The sculpture "Handkerchief" served as my starting point for a performative walk, which I developed for the "Open Monument Day" at the State Institute for Qualification and Quality Development in Schools (Landesinstitut für Lehrerbildung und Schulentwicklung), in cooperation with the Hamburg School Museum.
For the performative walk, I used my concept “Handkerchief” as a vehicle to make the process of active remembering tangible through audience interactions. Key elements included specially designed handkerchiefs, a Polaroid camera, loaned items from the Hamburger School Museum, and the sound of a school bell from the Weimar period. The accompanying sound piece consisted of various accounts ranging from a hundred years ago through to the contemporary period. While walking through the building, the audience listened to these accounts, which addressed the development and political and societal dimensions of teacher education in Hamburg since the Weimar period.
Performative Walk
2025
Textile, Spoken Word, Sound, Bronze Sculpture on a Mobile Stand,
Historical Objects from the Hamburg School Museum, Polaroid Camera.
Duration: 50 min.
Exhibited at State Institute for Qualification and Quality Development in Schools, Hamburg, on the occasion of the Open Monument Day, 14.09.2025
Photo credit: Claudia Höhne; the participants of the performative walk (polaroids)
Image sources: https://untietotie.org/event/die-leerstellen-fuellen-koloniale-fragmente-im-kontext-schule/,
https://www.ew.uni-hamburg.de/ueber-die-fakultaet/aktuell-2025/25-07-04-interview-sidney-oliveira.html,
The Hamburger Schulmuseum (School Museum), https://www.gew.de/aktuelles/detailseite/verhaertung-und-frontenbildung
With thanks to Celina Rahman, Dr. Silke Urbanski, the team at the Hamburger School Museum, and Katharina Bosse.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
