Etta Scollo and Maria Schrader
Nirgendland – Hommage
an Mascha Kaléko
('Nowhereland – an homage
to Mascha Kaléko')
The singer Etta Scollo, who lives in Sicily and Berlin, first came across Mascha Kaléko's works in 2007. In a small bookshop in Catania, she discovered a bilingual collection of poems whose lyricism captivated her. Etta Scollo describes the experience like this: 'I carried the book with me at all times; Mascha Kaléko and her poems went everywhere with me, like a good friend.' The idea to musicalise these poems would be in the making for a few years. In January 2025, she presented the project Nirgendland (Nessunluogo, 'Nowhereland') to the public to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the poet's death, Mascha Kaléko's poems translated into music and sung by Etta Scollo, as well as read by the actor Maria Schrader.
Mascha Kaléko was a New Objectivity muse, but also a protagonist. Over a short and very intense period, she provided insights into the art scene in her adopted home city, Berlin. In 1938, she was forced to flee to the USA to escape the Nazi regime and lived through the painful experience of being exiled and uprooted. In a text written during her flight, she wrote: 'No matter where I travel, I come to Nowhereland.' Etta Scollo's musicalisation of Mascha Kaléko's words gives them a new home.
