Biography
I am a Brussels based independent curator, critic, consultant (for young artists) and art mediator (youngsters). I have been an academic researcher and teacher in (moral) philosophy for quite some years, but changed the course of my career. They say it's not a big step for a philosopher to 'intervene' in the field of the arts... Not sure about that, but the fact remains: I am here now.
Being present is of course a time-related affaire, that should assume some well-balanced choices. In that regard, being present is always 'moral': you choose to be present in certain ways, for this or that reason, and within certain periods of time. My (philosophical) interest has mainly been the question of this 'moral' presence of the arts and artists in our network society: What role should the artist play in that particular society? Is political art a means to the good life? What is the relation between ethical and esthetical value? What moral impact can exhibitions have when it comes the problems of men?
During the course of my curatorial practice I have tried to guard myself against a too hard grip of this interest over my practice of exhibition-making. The tensions that I deal with here, constitute an important drive in what I attempt.
I started as an art critic for the Flemish cultural magazine Rekto:Verso, but soon felt an urge to
become a cultural producer as well. My experience in that regard is broad, stretching the boundaries of the cultural field, but it has been mainly focused on the visual arts.
I’ve organized public debates and expositions. Sometimes the expositions hosted the debates, at other times the expositions turned into public discussions. I’ve curated thematical group shows in Antwerp and Brussels. And I’ve promoted young national and international artists at other venues and public spaces.
For the last four years, I was an artistic coordinator of a socio-artistic platform in Brussels, called InBetween – a multi-functional project space for young artists and social questions, focused on art education and interdisciplinary and multicultural exchange.
There I learned to combine responsibilities like enhancing the productions, writing communication texts, managing a budget, keeping track of new ways of fundraising, involving youngsters from schools, cooperating with many partners from the different cultural and language communities and inviting local and international speakers and artists.
I've mostly worked with starting artists whom I tried to involve in larger networks. But I've also and mostly in combination with the lesser-known, worked with local talents like Meggy Rustamova, Dieter De Lathauwer, Peter Puype, Patricia Creyns, Alexandra Leyre Mein, Helmut Stallaerts and international artists like George Vaviloussakis, Mischa Kuball and Elin Magnussen. I also involved young talented curators like Karima Boudou, Pieter Vermeulen and Julie Rodeyns.
A brief list of exhibitions includes: End Game (2011), Mercy Mercy You (2011), solo Dieter De Lathauwer (Bozar Photography Prize, 2012), You and Me (2012), Pleasure and Consumption (2012), Market & Democracy (2013), Ding Dong (2014), Bureau Annex (2014), You can delete any comment that you can create (2014), Female Gazing (2014), Exile Travel (2014), Horror Formalism (2015), Under surveillance (2015)
At the moment I'm looking for new opportunities and collaborations in the hope of setting up a new kind of 'inbetween' or something completely different directed towards creating opportunities for (young) artists who need an extra push, hope to network with other artists, or want to be involved in urban projects.
An important drive for me is creating the conditions in which a diverse public can discover and appreciate both new and relevant stuff, upcoming artists and underexposed or common matters of concern. I believe that the 'serial drive' of exhibition-making for instance, should come with a certain background 'theory', a story and a public voice. That's when the moral interest, or the presence of the curator, has a lasting impact on what is being showcased.
