Reading / Workshop: Washington Cucurto

Kein Messer ohne Rose / No Knife Without a Rose / No hay cuchillos sin rosas

In 2001, after the crisis in Argentina, the idea of Eloísa Cartonera, a publishing house and social-cultural project, emerged as a response to the increasing number of cartoneros (people who search for recyclables in street garbage). With this project, Argentinean author Washington Cucurto created inexpensive books for a broad audience, and jobs for the cartoneros. The small house published works by young Latin American authors, consisting of photocopied pages and hand-painted envelopes made of the cardboard collected by the cartoneros. In 2007, three years after Eloísa Cartonera was founded, a two-part publishing chronicle as well as a small limited-edition volume with hand-colored cardboard envelopes, was produced for merz&solitude’s Projective Series. With texts and poems by Washington Curcurto, Cecila Pavón, Fabian Casas, Daniel Umpi, Fernanda Laguna and Ines Acevedo.

Washington Curcurto will read from his book and report on the founding and establishment of Eloisa Cartonera in Buenos Aires. In an interactive workshop Cucurto will show the special production process of their books. The public is invited to create their own book cover. Timo Berger will translate into German.

Washington Cucurto (*1973 in Quilimes, Argentina) is a primary protagonist of realismo atolondrado, an Argentinian literary movement that playfully mixes literary branches like low and high culture, Cumbia and Whitman, Comics and Gombrowicz. Washington Cucurto was a Solitude fellow in 2005/2006.