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Join us in Goethe-Gallery's new exhibition opening on September 7, 2026 (Mon) at 6:30 PM! The artist and curator will be present.
He wants to erase, but he archives.
He wants to let go, but he preserves.
He covers the object's history, but monumentalises its form.
He questions memory, but constructs a self-portrait from it.
A Self-Portrait: The Process of Erasing presents Chilai Howard’s solo exhibition as a personal journey through memory, objects, and the self. At its core lies a paradox: to let go of a memory, one must first give it a final form, while recognising the impossibility of ever possessing the past itself.
The artist metallises objects associated with different stages of his life, giving fluid memories a rigid, continuous surface. Memories, regrets, attachments, and pain appear to be preserved, while traces of lived experience disappear beneath the same metallic skin. Metallisation becomes a ritual that simultaneously preserves and erases: the object remains, yet something of its former life is concealed.
Can objects themselves be memories? Can memory ever truly be preserved or erased?
The exhibition becomes an archive constructed around what can no longer be recovered. Paradoxically, erasure is achieved through preservation: to relinquish memory, the artist makes its remains permanent. Metallisation does not repair absence; it makes absence visible. Between holding on and letting go, the exhibition asks: How do we change our relationship to the things through which we remember? And ultimately, how much of who I am is defined by who I was?
Public are welcome to join the engagement Performance "Give and Take". Bring a memorable metal object to the performance and entrust it to a process of transformation. During the performance, your object will be metallised, giving its familiar form a new surface and presence. At the end, you are invited to take the transformed object home with you.
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Exhibition Details
07.09 – 06.10.2026
Goethe-Gallery and Black Box Studio
Public engaged performances: Give and Take
12.09. & 3.10.2026 (Sat), 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Black Box Studio
Free admission.
Exhibition Opening Hours
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM (Mon - Fri)
9:30 AM - 6:30 PM (Sat)
Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays
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