Silvan Omerzu

Silvan Omerzu’s installations welcome us to each exhibition venue, entering into a dialogue with each space, its history and significance, as well as with the whole of The Oracle. As a sculptor, puppet designer, and director, Omerzu’s work is based in storytelling, masterfully navigating between addressing children or adults, never underestimating his audience, and delivering complex messages in his signature visual style.

The installations linger between the theatrical and the sculptural, frozen in motion or left to their automated movements. Even so, their expressiveness and the scenographic quality of the scenes are relatable and legible. Observing them feels like taking in lines from a book, or almost hearing the spoken words of a theatrical performance.

Poetry is the core of Omerzu’s installation at the Museum of Modern Art, where multiple poet-puppets continuously write while their poems spread like birds that have the ability to cover great distances with grace and tenderness. There is a sense of inner conflict, however, as the poets, seemingly guided by pure inspiration, are also puppets, manipulated from the outside. The question that poses itself is where does poetry come from? How much of it is pure intuition-based and poetic freedom, and to what extent is it influenced by outside factors?