NON-PRODUCTIVE READERS is a reading group for informal discussions about art, cultural theory and experimental writing. Initiated by BRYONY DAWSON in 2022 and named after Josef Strau's essay The Non-Productive Attitude, the group loosely explores modes of passivity, ambivalence, failure and refusal as vital aspects of creative and institutional practice. Past readings have included texts by Lisa Robertson, Jean Genet, Tiqqun, Clarice Lispector, Katrina Palmer, Jalal Toufic, Gertrude Stein and Seth Price.

The reading group takes place in the pauses between exhibitions. The selected texts will respond to the experiences and insights of the previous exhibition and thematically introduce the following project.

Discussions will be mainly in English, with whisper translation and German text versions available. No prior knowledge or background in art or cultural theory is required—only a motivation to read and think with others.

Each session is dedicated to a different text, so there is no pressure to commit to the whole series. Lurking listeners are always welcome.

To receive the reading material, please register at: readinggroup@halle-fuer-kunst.de

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In the 5th session on 13/06/2026, we read:
Anne Carson, Variations on the Right to Remain Silent, 2016

Tracing a line through the paintings of Francis Bacon, the trial of Joan of Arc, and the translations of Hölderlin—who “[rips] the lids off words and [plunges] his arms in”—Anne Carson writes in defence of the untranslatable: the blanks, gaps, and refusals that arise when words are dragged over from one language to another. While it is tempting to patch over these breaches with clichés or reach for familiar narratives, Carson argues for a mode of translation that stays with the ‘chaos and catastrophe’ of language’s limits. By suspending understanding, the untranslatable invites us to imagine alternative ways of being with a text.


The outreach programme at Halle für Kunst Lüneburg e.V. is made possible thanks to the kind support of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, the VGH Foundation, and the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg.

BRYONY DAWSON is a writer, curator, and sometimes-artist based between Berlin and Vienna. She runs the reading group Non-Productive Readers, as well as the reading series Tribute and screening/performance series Multiplex. Her creative and critical writing has been featured in Frieze, émergent magazine, Motor Dance Journal, Common Pink, Corridor8, Sore, and on Montez Press Radio. She is currently undertaking a Masters in Critical Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.

ANNE CARSON is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator and classicist. Her writing is deeply influenced by Ancient Greek literature, but also draws on contemporary art, cinema, anthropology, and literary criticism. Her books include Eros the Bittersweet (1986), Autobiography of Red (1998), and Nox (2010), and her translations of Sappho and Euripides have been widely acclaimed. She is the recipient of the Griffin Poetry Prize and numerous other honours, and is considered one of the most vital literary voices writing in English today.