Première: Natura Rebellis at Festival O. and V2_, Rotterdam, NL

18.05–26.05.2024 Première of the live performance Natural Rebellis at Festival O. and V2_ Lab for Unstable Media with new compositions of composer Henry Vega. Work in progress presentation of the new film and robotic sound installation Between the Lines.… Read More

Première of new iteration of ‘Electrify Everything at Biennale Nova_XX, Paris, FR

The première of the new iteration of ‘Electrify Everything’ with live sound composition by Pom Bouvier b., live film projection by Marjolijn Dijkman, and a recorded text by Jean Katambayi spoken by François Makanga… Read More

Between the Lines @ Winter sessions, V2_ Lab for Unstable Media, Rotterdam, NL

During the Winter sessions, artist Marjolijn Dijkman and electrotechnician Lukas Pol further developed the robotic experiments for the new film and sound installation Between the Lines and the new performance Natura Rebellis. These two productions are part of Marjolijn Dijkman’s artistic research project Between the Lines, which traces the monumental impact of climate change, industrialization, and the First World War in the polluted and traumatized landscapes of the ‘Zone Rouge’ located in the northeast of France.… Read More

Paper by L. Dhaenens published in MODOS Art History Journal

Sympathy or strategy? A close look at the Belgian exhibitions of modern and contemporary art organized in Argentina in 1946 and 1948. The paper explores two Belgian art exhibitions that took place in Buenos Aires in 1946 and 1948: the Exposición de arte belga moderno and the Exposición de arte belga contemporáneo. Although these exhibitions appear to be part of the same cultural initiative showcasing Belgian art in Argentina after World War II, a closer examination reveals that they were … Read More

Seminar: Emptiness and Infinite Space VII

Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, NL. December 8, 20h30. Free admission, but reservation required.
Seminar on the potential of digital worlds, with presentations by a.o. artist/researcher Alexandra Crouwers and philosopher Kirsten Poortier, followed by a discussion.… Read More

Marjolijn Dijkman @ LASER Talk Antwerp: Restoring the Human Element

LASER Talk with Frank Theys, Eva- Maria Lopez, Ronny Blust, Marjolijn Dijkman, Florian Zanatta. Organized by: Alexandra Dementieva and Kristof Timmerman (research group MAXlab) Hosted by: Edith Doove

The current state of our society is a product of the technological developments that originated in the second half of the past century. These accelerating technological innovations have shaped our way of life profoundly. However, the rapid pace of progress often overshadowed the long-term implications, leading to unintended consequences such as environmental degradation, social inequalities, and the erosion of human connection. Blinded and propelled by the promises of technological progress, we have often overlooked the human factor and ecological consequences.

MAXLab invites artists and scientists working at the intersection of art and technology to a debate on reintroducing the human element at the center of scientific and technological progress and the role of the arts in this.… Read More

De-/centering World’s Fairs: Representing Latin American ‘Peripheries’ in Arts and Fashion

Laurens Dhaenens participates in the conference De-/Centering World Fairs, organized at Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte, Paris. For the full program see: https://raltac.hypotheses.org/2437. He will present the paper Sympathy or strategy? A close look at the Belgian exhibitions of modern and contemporary art organized in Argentina in 1946 and 1948. As the title specifies, the focus of the paper is on two Belgian art exhibitions that took place in Buenos Aires in 1946 and 1948: the Exposición de arte belga moderno … Read More

Fieldguide Gatherings / South Africa

In April deep histories fragile memories are organizing two sets of Gatherings in South Africa in collaboration with the authors of the Fieldguides.
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The Annotated Garden

Seeing my plot as a demonstrably alive protagonist, this quick and earthly prototyping session with the Realities in Transition Artists engaged various technologies to explore narrative, visual and ecological densities. … Read More

Does sex matter? Women artists and gender diversity in museums and the art world.
Study day March 8, 2023 at the Yper Museum

Laurens Dhaenens was invited to participate in a study day on gender diversity and museum collections. A brief report of the talks and discussions can be found on the FARO website here. The program: 10.30 Openingsperformance Hind Eljadid  10.30 De geschiedenis van tentoonstellingen over vrouwelijke kunstenaars | Vraaggesprek met Marjan Sterckx (UGent) en Tom Verschaffel (KU Leuven)  11.15 Praktijkgetuigenis: tentoonstellingen maken over vrouwelijke kunstenaars. Panelgesprek: Hannelore Franck (Yper Museum), Chiel Vandenberghe (CC De Steiger), Marjan Sterckx (UGent) en Virginie Devillez … Read More

Un-Conference Media & Culture

Laurens Dhaenens presented his research project Beyond the Canon: A Digital Art Historical Approach to the International Circuit of Belgian Modern Art Exhibitions in the First Half of the Twentieth Century at the UN-Conference DigiSoc Work Group Culture & Media (22/09/2022). The program can be found here.

Publication / De Letterzetter

De letterzetter. 51°24’49.8″N 5°39’19.9”E
Alexandra Crouwers. A visual essay for Forum+ magazine for research and arts. vol. 29 nr. 2, pp. 24-29, May 2022.… Read More

Transatlantic modernisms. Belgium – Argentina 1910-1958

Laurens Dhaenens co-curated the exhibition Belgium-Argentina. Transatlantic Modernisms 1910-1958 together with Adriaan Gonnissen, Emma Driesprong and Juan Cruz Andrada. The exhibition focusses on the artistic connections between Belgium and Argentina in the first half of the 20th century when numerous exchanges took place, driven by migration and travel. The exhibition zooms in on four figures who, each in their own way, connected the art scenes and whose lives and works intersected: Belgian artist Victor Delhez (1902–1985), Argentine art critic and … Read More

Alvim Corrêa – Ninguém teria acreditado

Laurens Dhaenens curated together with Fernanda Pitta the exhibition No One Would Have Ever Believed: Alvim Correa and 10 Contemporary Artists at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo (04/12/2021-11/04/2022). The exhibition can be virtually visited here. The exhibition showed a new work by Wendy Morris who made in collaboration with composer Mariske Broeckmeyer the audio installation, A Hysterie of Guiné Weed and Sorrow Seed. Other artists include Alex Cerveny, Hair, Denilson Baniwa, Fernando Gutiérrez Huanchaco, Guerreiro do Divino Amor, Ilê Sartuzi, … Read More

ⓘ / information panels

In July & August, five information panels on my research are on view in the Park Brialmont in Antwerp, Berchem. … Read More

Conference / Ethnographic Returns

Anja Veirman was selected to present her research project “Experimental ethnographic participative methods as forms of collective knowledge production. Senufo mud cloth production and the making of new narratives” at The Ethnographic Returns Conference of The Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg/School of Global Studies University of Gothenburg in June. The video she made in lieu of the live presentation of the project can be viewed here

Launch of new site : midwif

Midwif is a new blog, a sub-blog of dhfm, that connects an international cluster of artists, writers and researchers around the figure of midwif as a knot at the centre of an entanglement of ideas around women’s medicinal plant knowledge and practices, and histories of their attempts at reproductive autonomy. The context of this collaborative investigation is the ongoing artistic research project of Wendy Morris, Nothing of Importance Occurred: Recuperating a Herball for a 17th century Enslaved Angolan Midwife at the Cape.