Kortrijk Art Weekend

À propos de l'exposition

ELDERS Col­lec­tief pre­sents Hip­po­cam­pus, a site-spe­ci­fic exhi­bi­ti­on explo­ring memo­ry and spa­ti­al orien­ta­ti­on through the decon­struc­ti­on of recol­lec­ti­on at the aban­do­ned indu­stri­al Land­Mar­ck site in Kortrijk.

The site car­ries a rich­ly lay­e­red his­to­ry: from human habita­ti­on sin­ce the Meso­li­thic era, through the pro­duc­ti­on of the renow­ned Pot­tel­berg roof tiles, to the acti­vi­ty of Van Mar­c­ke and the inter­na­ti­o­nal­ly acclai­med art work­shop De Coe­ne. The lat­ter col­la­bo­ra­ted with lea­ding figu­res such as Hen­ry Van de Vel­de, Mar­cel Breu­er, Char­lot­te Per­ri­and, Jean Prou­vé, Eero Saar­i­nen, and Renaat Braem. De Coe­ne also built seve­r­al pavi­li­ons for Expo ​’58, lea­ving its mark on inter­na­ti­o­nal moder­nist archi­tec­tu­re and design. Today, that dyna­mic leg­a­cy still reso­na­tes in Kort­rijk, whe­re the area is being rede­vel­o­ped under the name Land­Mar­ck into a hub for inno­va­ti­ve projects.

The buil­dings on the site reflect various peri­ods of con­struc­ti­on. On seve­r­al faça­des, the blue sea­hor­se logo, desig­ned by Octa­ve Lan­duyt in 1950 for Van Mar­c­ke, can still be seen. This sea­hor­se — hip­po­cam­pus — appe­ars as a sym­bol and gui­de through the laby­rinth of deser­ted fac­to­ries and offi­ces. It refers not only to the his­to­ry of the pla­ce but also to the brain regi­on essen­ti­al for memo­ry and spa­ti­al orien­ta­ti­on. Just as the site itself reveals tra­ces of the past and leads visi­tors through for­got­ten spa­ces, the hip­po­cam­pus brings us back to memo­ries and men­tal land­marks in space.

The exhi­bi­ti­on brings together works by Els­e­ma­rijn Bruys, Arnaud Eube­len, Gor­don Mat­ta-Clark, Geert Goi­ris, Aglaia Kon­rad, Lawren­ce Lek, Bri­git­te Lou­ter, Char­lot­te Pose­nens­ke, Shervin/​e Sheikh Rezaei, and Lenn­art Lahuis. As visi­tors make their way through the aban­do­ned halls and cor­ri­dors, the pas­sa­ge of time beco­mes pal­pa­ble, and memo­ries of a near and dis­tant past seem to lin­ger in the air. Time and again, like a déjà vu, the win­ding form of the sea­hor­se reap­pe­ars — a men­tal gui­de through spa­ce and time.

A part of the exhi­bi­ti­on, inclu­ding the work of Gor­don Mat­ta-Clark, is freely acces­si­ble; for the remai­ning sec­ti­ons, an admis­si­on tic­ket is requi­red. Un bil­let coû­te 6 € pour les adul­tes et est gra­tuit pour les moins de 18 ans.

À propos du lieu

ELDERS is een noma­disch col­lec­tief voor de pre­sen­ta­tie van heden­daag­se artis­tie­ke prak­tij­ken in Kort­rijk en regio. ELDERS orga­ni­seert ten­toon­stel­lin­gen in de Kort­rijk­se bin­nen­stad. Door het noma­di­sche aspect ver­hui­zen de pro­jec­ten tel­kens naar aan­ge­pas­te loca­ties. ELDERS wil niet enkel geves­tig­de kun­ste­naars maar ook jon­ge talen­ten in het begin van hun car­ri­è­re een plat­form geven. ELDERS werd opge­richt in 2021. De hui­di­ge leden zijn Pet­rus Pak­lons, Hélè­ne Depondt, Koen Tite­ca, Joa­chim Cou­c­ke, Die­ter Van Cane­ghem, Joke Anckaert, Gil­les Dedec­ker en Eli­sa­beth Sey­nae­ve. ELDERS heeft geen vas­te ope­nings­uren maar is gebon­den aan ten­toon­stel­lin­gen door­heen het jaar. Hou dus zeker deze en onze web­si­te in de gaten voor opko­men­de tentoonstellingen.