On the Way to the Museum? Opening Speech on a Benjamin Exhibition by the Theodor W. Adorno Archive

Abstract

This text reproduces the opening speech pronounced by Rolf Tiedemann at the opening of an exhibition in memoriam of Walter Benjamin on the 50 th anniversary of hisdeath, twenty years ago now. Even though the speech responds to a context which is geographically and historically far-off from ours, its relevance for the comprehension of Benjamin's intellectual and theoretical significance, 70 years after his death, is undeniable. The translation of this text into Spanish also aspires to make a modest contribution to the recognition of the irreplaceable work done by Rolf Tiedemann, whose editorial labor recovered Benjamin's work from the destructive forces which cut off his life. In this venture Tiedemann not only had to face up to the multiple difficulties and obstacles that threatened his purpose, but also to new forms of repression and oblivion linked to the annihilation of the historical dimension of consciousness. By opposing them, his work –from his pioneer doctoral dissertation Studies on Walter Benjamin's Philosophy  up to his editions of Adorno's and Benjamin's collected writings, but also as director at the Adorno-Archive from 1984 until 2001– has been marked by the need of safeguarding the critical force of remembrance: the attempt to pass on the work of those authors that were able to face up to the most appalling violence of the past century in order to decipher its consequences.