Edmund de Waal: Libraries, Collections, and Inheritance, Followed by a Conversation with Snøhetta, Designers of Charles Library

Join Temple University Libraries on Monday, September 14, 2026, from 4:00–5:30 PM at Mitten Hall in Philadelphia for a public talk by internationally acclaimed artist and writer Edmund de Waal, followed by a conversation with Snøhetta, the firm that designed Charles Library. The event will be followed by a reception in Charles Library from 5:30-6:30 PM. 

Renowned for his work exploring memory, collections, archives, and the movement of objects through time, de Waal will present an illustrated talk on the role of libraries in his artistic practice. He will reflect on projects from his library of exile installation at the 2019 Venice Biennale to his most personal commission at the Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris, an archival place of recovery. De Waal considers how objects and images carry histories across generations, and how collections themselves hold layered voices, absences, and possibilities for reinterpretation.