A fragrance of night, not to be defined, that brings on an obscure doubt, exquisite, tender, comes by the open window into the room where I am at work.
My cat watches the darkness, as rigid as a jug. A fortune of subtle seeing looks at me through its green eyes…
The lamp sings its slight song quietly, subdued as the song one hears in a shell. The lamp reaches out its placating hands. In its aureole, I hear the litanies, the choruses and the responses of flies. It lights up the flowers at the edge of the terrace. The nearest ones come forward timidly to see me, like a troop of dwarfs that discover an ogre…
The minute violin of a mosquito goes on and on. One could believe that a person was playing alone in a house at a remote distance… Insects fall with a sidewise fall and writhe gently on the table. A butterfly yellow as a wisp of straw drags itself along the little yellow valley that is my book…
A big clock outdoors intones drearily. Memories take motion like children dancing in a ring…
The cat stretches itself to the uttermost. Its nose traces in the air an imperceptible evolution. A fly fastens its scissors in the lamp…
Kitchen clatter mounts in a back-yard. Argumentative voices play at pigeon-vole. A carriage starts up and away. A train chugs at the next station. A long whistle rises far-off…
I think of someone whom I love, who is so little to be so separated, perhaps beyond the lands covered by the night, beyond the profundities of water. I am able to engage her glance…
–Léon-Paul Fargue / from A Fragrance of Night…
Translated by Wallace Stevens
Welcome to another edition of Prescriptions. Today is September 20th. On this day, Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets off on the first successful circumnavigation of the globe (1519); American Association for the Advancement of Science is founded (1848); Slave trade (buying and selling) is abolished in Washington DC, but slavery is allowed to continue (1850); Rome is captured by the Italian army after Pope Pius IX surrenders to King Victor Emmanuel II, unifying Italy and ending the 1,116-year reign of the Papal States (1870); Igor Stravinsky’s funeral song “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas” premieres in Los Angeles (1954); UN General Assembly admits 13 African countries and Cyprus (1960); African American student James Meredith is refused enrollment at the segregated University of Mississippi (1961); Ahmed Ben Bella is elected Prime Minister of Algeria in its first election following independence (1962); John Fitzgerald Kennedy proposes a joint US-Soviet voyage to the Moon (1963); Günter Grass’s play “The Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising” premieres in Berlin (1964); David Bowie’s single “Fame” goes #1 for two weeks (1975); In an address to a joint session of Congress U.S. President George W. Bush declares a “war on terror” following the attacks on September 11 (2001); Fifty people are killed and dozens injured after a gas station is bombed by the Syrian Army in Ain Issa (2012); Students from 185 countries stage the world’s largest-ever protest on climate change, culminating in a Manhattan rally led by Greta Thunberg (2019); Israel launches an airstrike on Beirut targeting Hezbollah, killing at least 37 people, including civilians, and raising fears of an all-out war (2024).
Earlier this summer we celebrated Our 8th Year Anniversary. And on this day September 20th were born Pop Art leader Mario Schifano (1934); poet and performance artist John Giorno (1936); artist and Kantian philosopher Adrian Piper (1948). On this day died historian and poet Heinrich Meibom (1625); painter Max Slevogt (1932); poet and Nobel Laureat Giorgos Seferis (1971); and French diplomat, poet and Nobel Laureat Saint-John Perse (1975).
Welcome to the 164th edition of Prescriptions. Here is our guide to current events in the arts.
Paige Fiddes, Mariana del Carmen and Cristina Kirstein, Kin / South Africa
Women by Women / The Shortlist
Led by Alessia Glaviano, PhotoVogue celebrates the most talented image-makers from our global open call, this shortlist of 150 international photographers and video makers presents a powerful, intimate, and richly diverse reflection. Including works from Daro Sulakauri, Isabel MacCarthy, Kristina Podobed, Ofir Berman, Mahé Elipe, Ranita Roy, Quetzal Maucci, and many others.
Ibrahim Mahama
Ibrahim Mahama: Zilijifa
Ibrahim Mahama develops his research on the history of the Ghanaian railway network created under British colonial rule. It sees the fulfilment of a long-term aspiration to deconstruct, transport and exhibit. On view through November 2, 2025 at Kunsthalle Wien.
Patrick Wack, Untitled, Young Ukrainians jumping into the Black Sea from a pier in Odesa, Ukraine, Summer 2023. Courtesy of the artist
Les Rencontres d’Arles / Disobedient Images
In the spirit of Édouard Glissant who extols the intertwining of cultures and the richness of encounters, this new edition of the festival proposes the exploration of the image in polyphonic form. On view through October 5, 2025.
Park McArthur, Contact M at Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Is this an investment, pied-à-terre, or primary residence?, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel
Park McArthur. Contact M
This exhibition considers McArthur’s practice and presence among a recent generation of artists whose materialist and institutionally-responsive strategies refuse to separate critique and imagination. On view at mumok through September 7, 2025 and Museum Abteiberg through September 28, 2025.
Steve McQueen, Bass, 2024, LED Light and Sound, Courtesy the artist, Co-commissioned work by Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel and Dia Art Foundation, Schaulager® Münchenstein/Basel (Installation view), Photo: Pati Grabowicz, © Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen: Bass
“What I love about light and sound is that they are both created through movement and fluidity. They can be molded into any shape, like vapor or a scent; they can sneak into any nook and cranny. I also love the beginning point where something isn’t a form as much as it is all-encompassing.” –Steve McQueen. Co-commissioned work by Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel and Dia Art Foundation. On view through November 16, 2025 at Schaulager Basel.
Neo Norte 4.0 di Tere Chad
Neo Norte: Art, Migration, & the Power of Cultural Syncretism
“How do these diverse cultures integrate? And how do they create something entirely new and unique?” reflecting the ever-evolving nature of Latin American identity – shaped by centuries of colonisation, migration, and cultural blending. Interview by Chantelle Weir.
Parisa Azadi
Ordinary Grief
A Story of Reconciliation by Parisa Azadi. “I returned to Iran after 25 years of self-exile, where I embarked on a personal and political reclamation of my identity and history. My attempt to reconcile despair and joy, exhaustion and hope…”
Robert Grosvenor, Untitled (2022)
Astrup Fearnley Collection
The Astrup Fearnley Collection is one of Europe’s leading collections of international contemporary art with nearly 1,500 works. The museum shares this dynamic collection with regular exhibitions. On view at Astrup Fearnley Museet through December 30, 2025.
Viridiana Morandini: POGO
Viridiana Morandini: POGO
There’s something fleeting in the act of taking a photograph, a kind of hush, a wish not to disturb, coupled with the impossible ambition of capturing everything. To sneak it. Make it seem like an accident, but walk away with the whole world. Photobook by Viridiana Morandini with text by Rubén Lardín
