Edition S Press. Poems You Have To Hear

Exhibition at the Centre for Artists’ Publications

12.09.2026 - 29.08.2027

S PRESS Tape No. 70, Michael Brownstein – Monkey Blues, S PRESS TONBANDVERLAG, 1979, Photo: Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst

From 1970 to 2005, Edition S Press was a publishing house specializing in experimental literature, Concrete Poetry, Beat Poetry, and poetry performance. Using reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, video cassettes, and media packages, it developed new forms of publishing acoustic art. Over 80 editions bring together works by artists from Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Many of these artworks were created during the Cold War and demonstrate how poetry and sound art became forms of expression for resistance and artistic freedom. Especially today, in light of the global rise of authoritarian tendencies, these works seem remarkably relevant.

The exhibition tells the story of Edition S Press and shows how a small West German publishing house helped shape international art history. On display are numerous audio and video works, as well as programs, posters, photographs, flyers, and press materials.

Exhibition on level 3,5

Opening: September 11, 2026, 7 pm

Curated by Sabine Hänsgen, former co-editor of Edition S Press.

With the kind support of

The digital preservation of selected sound works is a collaborative effort between Research Association Artists‘ Publications and Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst.

German Tour Allen Ginsberg Peter Orlovsky Steven Taylor, 1980 / John Cage, Mureau, 1972 / Gerhard Rühm, gerhard rühm spricht gerhard rühm „abhandlung über das weltall“, 1971, Photo: Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst

Charles Amirkhanian, Konrad Bayer, Clyde Bellecourt, Bazon Brock, Michael Brownstein, William S. Burroughs, John Cage, Igor Cholin, Henri Chopin, Philip Corner, Robert Creeley, Christoph Derschau, Edward Dorn, François Dufrêne, Larry Eigner, Fliegenpilz / Muchomor, Terry Fox, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Hartmut Geerken, Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, Eugen Gomringer, Brion Gysin, Ludwig Harig, Raoul Hausmann, Bernard Heidsieck, Helmut Heißenbüttel, Ernst Jandl, Matthyas Jenny, Ted Joans, Kollektive Aktionen, Arrigo Lora-Totino, Jackson MacLow, Friederike Mayröcker, Michael McClure, Alfred Miersch, Andrej Monastyrskij, Maurizio Nannucci, Otto Nebel, Wsewolod Nekrassow, Meret Oppenheim, Peter Orlovsky, Oskar Pastior, Dmitrij A. Prigow, Jerome Rothenberg, Lew Rubinstein, Gerhard Rühm, Genrich Sapgir, Herbert Schuldt, Gary Snyder, Patti Smith, Steven Taylor, Anne Waldman.