Italian artist Daniela Comani has created a site-specific installation from her series Orlando’s Library in the foyer of the Kunstbibliothek at Berlin’s Kulturforum. The installation coincides with Comani’s invitation to BUCHSALON, an event series hosted by the Kunstbibliothek. On 17 November 2026, Comani will be a guest at the event, presenting selected works from her extensive, internationally exhibited oeuvre. The focus will be on the book as an artistic medium.
Image above: Daniela Comani, “Orlando’s Library”, site-specific installation, print on paper, 14 panels, various dimensions, Kunstbibliothek – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2026 © Daniela Comani
The site-specific presentation Orlando’s Library, a project Daniela Comani has been working on since 2021, is a multilayered illusion: photographs of plain bookshelves display carefully arranged books. Among the titles are well-known and lesser-known novels and monographs, in both original editions and translations, some featuring period-specific cover designs, others iconic ones. Comani has made subtle, almost imperceptible alterations to the titles on the covers. In doing so, Orlando’s Library opens up an entirely different possible world of literature.
The perspective offered by the installation unsettles a literary canon shaped by male and heteronormative perspectives. It invites us to question the status quo rather than simply accepting it as a given. Comani disrupts our habitual ways of seeing and challenges our everyday assumptions. Her series are often published as artist’s books, which she conceives and designs herself, exploring questions of history, language and identity. Gender roles, stereotypes, canon formation, power structures and visibility, particularly in literary history, are central themes in Comani’s work.
The Kunstbibliothek’s BUCHSALON event series is dedicated to all things related to books. In BUCHSALON #13, on 17 November 2026 at 8 pm, Maren Wienigk, Curator of the Architecture and Ornament Collection, and Michael Lailach, Curator of the Book Art Collection, will discuss Daniela Comani’s book projects with the artist. Admission is free.
Orlando’s Library will be on view until International Women’s Day (8 March 2027).
WHEN?
Intervention: Tuesday, 17. November 2026 – Monday, 8. March 2027
open Mon–Fri 9 am – 8 pm, Sat–Sun 10 am – 6 pm
Opening: Tuesday, 17. November 2026, 7 pm
BUCHSALON #13: Tuesday, 17. November 2026, 8 pm
WHERE?
Foyer der Kunstbibliothek, Kulturforum Berlin
Johanna-und-Eduard-Arnhold-Platz / Matthäikirchplatz
10785 Berlin
