Edited by Heike Catherina Mertens, Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House

The English word sanctuary means not only a holy place or sacred space of worship but also asylum and refuge. In 1943, the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles became just such a refuge for Marta & Lion Feuchtwanger, and to mark its 25th anniversary as an artist residence, the Villa is presenting reflections by writers and visual artists on sanctuaries and hermitages. In addition to new essays and poems by former fellows, the publication also includes essays on the literature of exile as well as exhibition views and texts from all the lonely people, curated by Nana Bahlmann. The book examines the millennia-old tradition of hermitism and, against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic, offers up artistic depictions of loneliness, melancholy, and longing as well as physical and mental withdrawal. With works by: Saâdane Afif, Vajiko Chachkhiani, Louisa Clement, Lauren Halsey, Johnston Marklee, Annika Kahrs, Susan Philipsz, Anri Sala, April Street, Thomas Struth, Kaari Upson, Andrea Zittel