This January, The Kitchen will present a collaboration with the Louvre and the New York Review Books. First a royal palace, then a museum, the Louvre has inspired poets for centuries – from Renaissance authors to modern day practitioners of the spoken word. For At the Louvre, a joint initiative of the museum, New York Review Books and Seghers, leading to a book published in 2024, celebrated poets from around the world were invited to compose a poem about the palace-museum. The book came out in French and in English. To complement this publication in two languages, a soundtrack was composed, for which 95 of the 102 poets read their poem in their own tongue, thereby making a statement for an open-ended perception of the museum and, with it, of a multiple approach to humankind. This soundtrack is also an experimental, performative piece, in which voices are heard across cultures and times – echoing through the many lives of art. The Kitchen will present this historic project for a special week-long sonic installation.

Contributors

ABD AL MALIK, France, French

ALI AL ATTAR Irak, Arabic

NUJOOM ALGHANEM United Arab Emirates, Arabic

RACHAEL ALLEN United Kingdom, English

JEAN D'AMÉRIQUE Haïti / France, French

ANTONELLA ANEDDA Italy, Italian

RAE ARMANTROUT United States of America, English

SIMON ARMITAGE United Kingdom, English

LINDA MARIA BAROS Romania / France, French

POLINA BARSKOVA Russia / United States of America, English

TAHAR BEN JELLOUN Morocco / France, French

JAY BERNARD United Kingdom, English

EMILY BERRY United Kingdom, English

ZÉNO BIANU France, French

JACOB BROMBERG United States of America, English

HANNAH BROOKS-MOTL United States of America, English

MERCEDES CEBRIÁN Spain, Espagnol

PATRICK CHAMOISEAU France, French

CECILA CHAPDUELH France, Occitan

BARBARA CHASE-RIBOUD United States of America / France, English

LOUISE CHENNEVIÈRE France, French

PIERRE CHOPINAUD France, French

ALI COBBY ECKERMANN Yankunytjatjara (yunkun-cha-charra) from South Australia, English

ANN COTTEN Austria, French

JACQUES DARRAS France, French

NAJWAN DARWISH Palestine, Arabic

PAULINE DELABROY-ALLARD France, French

HÉLÈNE DORION Canada, French

MICHAEL EDWARDS United Kingdom, English / French

JEAN FRÉMON France, French

ALBANE GELLÉ France, French

PETER GIZZI United States of America, English

ROBERT GLÜCK United States of America, English

KIM GORDON United States of America, English

STEFAN HERTMANS Belgia, Flemish

FANNY HOWE United States of America, English

SIMON JOHANNIN France, French

NUNO JÚDICE Portugal, Portuguese

SYLVIE KANDÉ Senegal / France, French

JOHN KEENE United States of America, English

ISTVÁN KEMÉNY Hungary, Hungarian

WAYNE KOESTENBAUM United States of America, English

ABDELLATIF LAÂBI France / Morocco, French

NICK LAIRD Northern Ireland, English

AMADOU LAMINE SALL Senegal, Wolof

LAN LAN China, Chinese

YITZHAK LAOR Israel, Hebrew

DOROTHEA LASKY United States of America, English

MONICA DE LA TORRE Mexico / United States of America, English

GÉRARD LE GOUIC Breton (France), French

LISETTE LOMBÉ Belgia, French

LULJETA LLESHANAKU Albania, Albanese

TEDI LÓPEZ MILLS Mexico, Spanish

MAIALEN LUJANBIO Basque Country (Euskal Herria), Basque Language (Euskera)

GÉRARD MANSET France, French

ARVIND KRISHNA MEHROTRA India, English

KARTHIKA NAÏR India / France, English

VIVEK NARAYANAN India, English

BENA NIMROD Republic of Chad, French

ALICE NOTLEY United States of America, English

GAËLLE OBIÉGLY France, French

EUGENE OSTASHEVSKY Russia / United States of America, English

NORBERT PAGANELLI France, French

FANI PAPAGEORGIOU British poet of Greek descent, English

CHARLES PENNEQUIN France, French

SERGE PEY France, French

JANA PRIKRYL Canadian-American poet who was born in the former Czechoslovakia, English

OXMO PUCCINO Republic of Mali / France, French

OLIVIER PY France, French

MARIE DE QUATREBARBES France, French

ARIANA REINES United States of America, English

BLANDINE RINKEL France, French

ANDRÉS SÁNCHEZ ROBAYNA Spain, Spanish

ALBERT ROIG Spain, Catalan

MARTIN RUEFF France, French

JAMES SACRÉ France, French

BARRY SCHWABSKY United States of America, English

RYOKO SEKIGUCHI Japan, French

YOMI ṢODE Nigeria / United Kingdom, English

ARIEL SPIEGLER Brazil / France, French

ALEŠ ŠTEGER Republic of Slovenia, Slovene

FIONA SZE-LORRAIN France (born in Singapore), English

VÉRONIQUE TADJO Ivory Coast / France, French

ESTHER TELLERMANN France, French

CAMILLE DE TOLEDO France, French

KRISZTINA TÓTH Hungary, Hungarian

MILÈNE TOURNIER France, French

ANDREAS UNTERWEGER Austria, German

ANDRÉ VELTER France, French

JAN WAGNER Germany, German

WANG YIN China, Chinese

ELIZABETH WILLIS United States of America, English

XI CHUAN China, Chinese

JEFFREY YANG United States of America, English

CYNTHIA ZARIN United States of America, English

At the Louvre is organized by Robyn Farrell, Director of Curatorial Affairs & Senior Curator.