In the group exhibition Requiem for a failed State at HALLE 14 in Leipzig, rehearsals for Requiem for Lumumba by the GDR composer Paul Dessau took place. The work was composed in commemoration of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Congo, which premiered in 1964 in the Leipzig Congress Hall. In public choir rehearsals, Dessau's Requiem was recited and examined as a documentary work with the participants. The recordings from the rehearsals were subsequently audible in the room as an audio installation. In it, the original content is transformed by the individual voices and discussions, and the political character of the piece is overwritten and contextualized. Similar to an oral tradition, the story has changed with those who tell it. The exhibition was accompanied by a workshop and a panel discussion. Credits: 1 Record cover, Requiem for Lumumba, (1961-1963), Design: Gerd Semder, VEB Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin, GDR, 1971 ((Photo: Carsten Saeger) 2 4-channel audio installation, 60 min. loop, felt, upholstered chairs, light bulb, 2 pairs of stereo speakers, HALLE 14 – Center for Contemporary Art Leipzig, In the exhibition Requiem for a failed State, 2018 (Photo: Büro für Fotografie) 3 Installation view, table installation, 4-channel audio installation, headphones, HALLE 14 - Center for Contemporary Art Leipzig, In the exhibition Requiem for a failed State, 2018 (Photo: Carsten Saeger)
