Room 14

This book is a recreation of the painted poetry exhibition of Vicente Huidobro in Paris, May 1922, with English text written out in a digital recreation of Huidobro's own handwriting. The painted pictures were the natural final stage of his experimentation with calligrams, using coloured text painted over naive abstract landscapes to create encapsulations of how the poet sees the world. They were created within the context of Huidobro's artistic movement, Creationism, that saw the poet as creating his own worlds. Seven of the original tableaux survive, and these are recreated in English with restored colours. The two calligrams are recreated in colours in a way that conforms to Huidobro's practice, and there is a recreation of the lost painting Eiffel Tower by the translator from contemporary notes. The final three lost tableaux, Rainbows 1-3, are realised in homage by the translator.