From image to story
MinutenBuch · LivreDesMinutes · BookOfMinutes is an evolving art project made up of drawings, stories, handwritten images and voices. The drawings do not prescribe a story. People choose an image and respond to it with a contribution of their own.
Encounter
At MinutenBuch gatherings, people come together who often have not met before. They come from different contexts and cultures and speak different languages.
Starting from the drawings, stories, memories, thoughts and handwritten images emerge. Through writing, reading aloud and looking at one another’s work, a surprisingly personal closeness develops among the participants.
Each contribution stands on its own and is perceived and valued for its individuality. It is precisely the different approaches that make the gatherings come alive: the same drawing can prompt completely different stories.
Not every word and not every language needs to be understood. Voice, rhythm, handwriting, images and the reactions of others often convey something beyond a literal translation.
From the book of hours to MinutenBuch
The idea was inspired by medieval books of hours, illustrated books that structured the day hour by hour.
From this principle, the MinutenBuch emerged – 60 images, 60 units of time. The first volume contains drawings 1–60, the second drawings 61–120. Further volumes may follow.
A growing archive
The texts, handwritten images and voices created during the gatherings are assigned to their respective drawings. In this way, a multilingual archive of very different perspectives grows around the images.
The drawings remain the same. With every new contribution, however, what can be seen and told in them changes.
At the end of a gathering, the participants go their separate ways. The shared space dissolves – the stories remain.
What remains is the sense of minutes lived intensely.