Ophelia - Sehnsucht, Melancholia and Desire of Death

The image of Shakespeare’s heroin Ophelia – serene in death as she floats in the water, surrounded by flowers – continues to raise questions about devotion, madness, innocence, manipulation, hysteria, accidental death and suicide. This alluringly designed catalogue, produced to accompany an exhibition with the same title at the MMKA, Arnhem, explores these and other interrelated aspects from different angles and disciplines. The result is a kaleidoscopic picture of Ophelia as a muse of contemporary artists, film makers, poets and psychologists. Illustrated throughout with works, photographs, historical images, texts, poems, statements and essays.