Contour 2013, 6th Biennial of Moving Image
Leisure, Discipline and Punishment
24 August–3 November 2013
Opening: Friday, 23 August 2013
Hours: Thursday–Friday 10–17h,
Saturday–Sunday 10–18h
Contour Mechelen vzw
Sint-Romboutskerkhof 2
2800 Mechelen, Belgium
Exhibition starting point:
Municipal Museum Hof van Busleyden
Frederik de Merodestraat 65, Mechelen
Curator: Jacob Fabricius (DK)
Artists: Søren Andreasen (DK), Sven Augustijnen (BE), Petra Bauer (SE), Sonia Boyce (GB), Alejandro Cesarco (UY), Keren Cytter (IS), Josef Dabernig (AU), Gustaaf De Bruyne (BE), Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys (BE), Carl De Keyzer (BE), Edgardo Aragón Díaz (MX), Harun Farocki (CZ), Paul Hendrikse (NL), Judith Hopf (DE), Marine Hugonnier (FR), Liz Magic Laser (US), Pablo Pijnappel & Giles Bailey (FR/UK), Agnieszka Polska (PL), Mark Raidpere (EE), Marinella Senatore (IT), David Shrigley (UK), Dario Šolman (HR), Sarah Vanhee (BE), Pernille With Madsen (DK)
Writers: Arne Dahl (SE) and Anders Fogh Jensen (DK)
Locations: The biennial will take place at a limited number of venues across Mechelen: the prison, the football stadiums, the Church of Our Lady-across-the-Dyle and the Municipal Museum Hof van Busleyden. These locations can all be connected to the theme of this year’s biennial.
The stadiums, the prison and the church play an important role in the local history of Mechelen. Yet they are also general spaces that can be found in any larger city worldwide. They represent social places that people visit for worship, pleasure, necessity or where they are placed by force. Each chosen location has a very specific energy and a loaded set of rules and codes—each space even has judges to regulate good and bad behaviour—and they represent fundamental institutions and architectural structures within society. Whether it is among prisoners, within fan cultures or at religious ceremonies, the social codes and behaviour patterns consist of songs, rituals and daily routines. Some of the spaces are more accessible than others and some are hidden, while others attract more attention in our urban landscape.
The majority of the selected artists have visited the venues and used them as inspiration to develop new work or select existing work that relates to one or more of the structures, or to the biennial’s theme.
Because of the nature of the venues—be it religious, commercial or penal—the visiting times are regulated and limited, and some works may only be visible to the daily users of the venues. Due to these restrictions, the core part of the exhibition can be seen at the Municipal Museum Hof van Busleyden.
The three words Leisure, Discipline and Punishment function as the cornerstones in our society, but they are not connected to any of the specific venues. The title merely functions as an association. Food for thought…