Full Moon Phase

Contour Biennale 9 is proud to present the series Dutch Cabinet by Dutch artist Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide) who lives and works in Brussels since 2016. The serial work Dutch Cabinet consists of 558 water colors and is made between 14 October 2010 until 23 April 2012. That is the same number as the number of days in the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet’s first term in office. The series started on 14 October, 2010 the day that Rutte’s cabinet, supported by the populist right-wing Freedom Party (PVV), was created. During this term of office, Chang (Van der Heide) painted a watercolour of a brown ‘Dutch cabinet’ every day. A Dutch cabinet is a traditional Dutch cupboard, as well as a colloquial term for the Dutch government. The collection of drawings of cabinets grew in number and in variety with each day the ‘Rutte I’ cabinet was in power. The series came to an end when the government resigned after 558 days.

The history of the Dutch cabinet reveals Dutch colonial past. The cabinets are silent witnesses to personal and Dutch national history and have been present in many Dutch households for centuries, where they were (and sometimes still are) passed down from generation to generation. The act of daily drawing by the artist was an act of resistance and an act of counting the days of this dark cabinet. The current climate of fear, hate, white nationalism, racism and xenophobia in the Netherlands, Flanders and Europe in general is the same background against which the series Dutch Cabinet was created between 2010 and 2012.

Although Dutch cabinets are predominantly brown and sturdy, they have been produced in different shapes and colours. The wooden cupboard originated in Asia, and cabinets became familiar household items in Holland around 1600, through the influence of Moorish culture from Spain. Most of these cabinets were manufactured in Holland using Dutch oak, but there are also many examples of cabinets made of ‘exotic’ wood. What is more, Dutch cabinets were also made in former colonies during Dutch colonial times. For example, they were produced in the Cape of Good Hope (currently South Africa); Ceylon (currently India); Batavia (currently Indonesia and Sri Lanka) and New York.

The Wasp and the Weather | Poetry Walk is a poetry walk through Mechelen organized by artist Robin Vanbesien. The walk is part of The Wasp and the Weather, the project the artist will present at Contour Biennale 9. The project takes a closer look at a collection of poems by youngsters from Rzoezie (Arabic word for wasp), a former youth centre (1978-2006) in Mechelen (Belgium), which was founded and self-organized by youngsters of Moroccan and Amazigh descent.

The Wasp
Originally published in Rzoezie’s monthly print magazine, this collection of poems gives voice to a (counter-)public imaginary that argues for a society of radical equality. An experience of tensions and feelings of uncertainty are gleaned from these poems, indicating racial discrimination in a hostile social environment.

The Weather
In what we can call the weather in a white world, anti-blackness is as pervasive as climate. How can the poems of the Wasp resonate in heavy weather? What is the space for and of this poetry? To write a poem and read it aloud doesn’t require much material infrastructure, but each word can yield a new consciousness of the relations of subjects to one another and to their physical surroundings.

produced by timely, coproduced by Spectre productions and Contour 9, supported by Darna – Flemish Moroccan culture house, BUDA arts centre Kortrijk, Arts in Society Award, M HKA and Amsab-ISG.

Do you want to have more background and get to know more about the focus of this biennial? Register in time and visit the exhibition with curator Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez. Travel along the themes that inspired her and dive into the presented works together.

Contour Biennial 9 will enter its second phase in the weekend of 17 to 19 May. The programme curated by Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez is very rich: exhibitions, film, music and performances. This 9th edition focuses on themes such as ecology, inequality, degrowth and racism. Precisely the reason why there are also various presentations and workshops that you can attend and where dialogue is central. Feel extra engaged if you are a resident of Mechelen. The city and its residents were the inspiration for many artists

The Empire of Law is a newly commissioned video that is part of the project Not Fully Human, Not Human At All, a collaboration between the artist, Netwerk Aalst, Kadist and Contour Biennale 9. After the film, Daniela Ortiz will be in conversation with Walter Andino Midence.

The Empire of Law is a film that aims to critically analyse the relationship between law, justice and colonialism. It does so based on the architecture, history and context of two law courts: the Brussels Palace of Justice (Belgium) and the copy of this building, the Palace of Justice in Lima (Peru). In this manner, it unveils the role of the legal system in the construction of extractivist, racist and neo-colonial global structures.

For this edition of the Wish List, British-Barbadian saxophonist, clarinettist and band leader Shabaka Hutchings was invited to fill the Friday evening programme. We start the evening with a solo concert by Shabaka and end it with the documentary Minding the Gap, directed by Bing Liu. Before his solo concert, Hutchings will discuss his thoughts on the deeper meaning behind the album Your Queen is A Reptile.

Programme:

20:30 - 21:00 : Solo clarinet performance by Shabaka Hutchings

21:00 - 21:30: Q & A about the album Your Queen is A Reptile

This album is a provocative, anti-establishment critique of the blind idolatry received by the British monarchy and a call to deconstruct old myths and replace them with more relevant ones. In this case, that means honouring the significant contributions made by women of colour throughout history, which are often hidden or overlooked. The talk will be hosted and moderated by Reine Elisabeth Nkiambote.

Artist Saddie Choua will examine several themes as part of Contour Biennial 9: the psycho-physical trauma caused by racism and betrayal, but also the healing counterbalance that sisterhood can offer in processing trauma. Take Care of Yourself and Walk is a walk through Mechelen where the history of the city’s women is the starting point.

This sisters’ walk is partly based on the herbal book by the Mechelen-born botanist Rembert Dodoens. Besides this, Choua takes a closer look at some local women in history during this walk and provides context on the women who have influenced her new work for Contour in Mechelen. They include women such as Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, Chantal Akerman, Saïda Menebhi, Ingrid Jonker, Susan Sontag, Heiny Srour, Miriam Makeba, Fairuz, Sydney Loren Bennett, Rupa, Googoosh, Victoria Santa Cruz & Yma Sumac. Choua enters into a dialogue with them and her audience.

For Contour Biennale 9’s full moon cycle, COYOTE will run a one-day experimental drawing and writing work session. The work session focuses on expanding an environmental lexicon with the help of willing participants in Mechelen. The aim is to use this new vocabulary as a tool for environmental activism.

The morning session will focus on a conceptual and political discussion with COYOTE and Louis de Bruyn, from “the art of the common place” to the reality of a circular and local agriculture in Mechelen. De Bruyn is working on connecting eaters and growers; and fostering this common place.

The afternoon session will start with a talk by Eline Arlt, from Youth for Climate Mechelen. After a conversation about environmental activism and effective modes of action, we will draw and experiment new visual signs to express our feelings and concerns regarding climate change.

This LUNÄ Talk, held as part of On-Trade-Off, will focus on the environmental, social and economic implications of the extraction and processing of lithium. In the discussion, we will look at the history of energy and address the importance of raw materials from D.R. Congo in both the industrial and technological revolutions. At the same time we will address experimental models of sustainable energy production and future prospects for lithium mining in D.R. Congo.

Hosted by the artists Marjolijn Dijkman and Maarten Vanden Eynde, researchers Raf Custers (Gresea), Jeroen Cuvelier (Ugent) and Zheng Li (KU Leuven) and the journalist and writer Tine Hens will engage in conversation with the artists Femke Herregraven, Sammy Baloji and Jean Katambayi who are part of the project On-Trade-Off. The audience is welcomed to listen and actively respond to the ideas and corresponding artefacts put on the table.

The conversation is part of the project On-Trade-Off, created by the artist initiatives Picha (Lubumbashi, DRC) and Enough Room for Space (Brussels, BE). On-Trade-Off takes its cue from the raw material lithium, currently considered to be the ‘the new black gold’ because of its crucial role in the global transition towards a ‘green and fossil-free economy’.

During this work session and ritual Common dreams: Climate Grief you will find out more about the meaning and impact of climate change. The programme maker Evanne Nowak and artist Maria Lucia Cruz Correia invite you to join them for this work session on the floating island located for the weekend on the River Dyle in the city centre of Mechelen.

Common Dreams: Climate Grief will focus on the effect that the rapid weather changes that have occurred recently have on human beings, beings other than humans and landscapes. Consciously or unconsciously, we all experience the effect of the heat waves on social, cultural and farming activities, through daily news reports or our own personal experiences. Are we in deeper trouble than we want to admit? And what can we do?

As part of the Contour Biennale 9, Nyampeta presents a combination of individual works that deal with two former Belgian colonies, the Congo and Rwanda. A Flower Garden of All Kinds of Loveliness Without Sorrow (Contour 9) is a presentation the artist will conduct, in which members of the public are invited to engage with texts and other works that have been prepared for the event.

The aim of the presentation is to write, listen to and comment on poems, music, videos and texts from modern and contemporary Rwandan visual cultures. During the months preceding the second phase of the biennial, the artist invited guests to translate Francophone texts of African expression into English. In the selection of works, the group focussed especially on short texts, songs and films from or related to modern and contemporary Rwandan thought and life practices. His 3 guests are the composer Aurélie Nyirabikali Lierman, film maker Amelia Umuhire and artist Laura Nsengiyumva.

“What remains when freedom ends?” A documentary performance by Mark Požlep.

Mark Požlep first performed Blueprint for Revolution in New York 2017, when he made a circular navigation around the island of Manhattan in a canoe. One of the main goals of this project was to explore human reconciliation through conflicting notions of freedom. By the physical act of sailing, he activated ideas of fantasy, discovery, conquest, and survival by confronting the island’s overwhelming capitalist system. In this performance, he aims to bring nuance to relationships with history, the current political state of affairs, and social complexities of the island, based on the conversations he has had with descendants of the Native inhabitants of Manhattan.

Mark began his American adventure with Winnetou, a fictional hero devised by Karl May. Through May's books and films, produced mainly in Germany and Yugoslavia, Winnetou became a symbol of an indigenous tribe for entire generations that grew up behind the Iron curtain.

Sometimes It Was Beautiful, a film by Christian Nyampeta, will be screened in the presence of the artist. It tells the story of the Swedish cinematographer Sven Nykvist and the films he made in the Congo in the mid-twentieth century. This is a Belgian premiere because the film has never been shown in Belgium before! As part of Contour Biennale 9, Nyampeta presents a combination of individual works that deal with two former Belgian colonies, the Congo and Rwanda.

The film Sometimes It Was Beautiful is structured through a changing number of episodic fragments. The fragments orbit around a meeting of improbable friends, gathered to review films by the Swedish cinematographer Sven Nykvist that he made in the Congo in the 1940s. Among these personalities are Yasser Arafat, Leela Gandhi, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Rigoberta Menchú, Robert Mugabe, Wole Soyinka, and Crown Princess Victoria. Further colleagues of Sven Nykvist from both sides of the grave also attend his screening: Andrei Tarkovsky shows up, and Winnie Mandela seems to have something on her mind, while the 14th Dalai Lama is rumoured to be nearby. All these figures have committed themselves to a cinematic palaver. Repetitions abound, doubts multiply, accusations surge, sidelong glances are cast, meaning is lost, and incredulities are expressed.

In the Full Moon Phase, artist Cadine Navarro cordially invites you to join her work session called Ode to the Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, to get people to engage with her work Black Gold. This is a constantly evolving installation by the artist, that has stood in the garden of Academy Mechelen since the first phase of the biennale in January 2019. Along with the working group, she will focus on breaking down and composting thought-forms that will later be disposed off at the site of Black Gold.

Participants are kindly asked to bring something to lie on (small blanket, mat), and a light blanket or scarf for warmth.

Black Gold is a public installation that is both a compost box and a chime box. It is sustained by the care, attention and curiosity of visitors, particularly during the different moon phases of Contour Biennale 9. It is not only a site where matter breaks down into new life forms, but also a space especially constructed to give us a heightened consciousness of our environment and ourselves. The bodily practice will include some breath work and meditative techniques that will last for an hour and will be immediately followed by a walk to the site in order to conclude the ritual. This practice is open to everyone.

The launch of Common Dreams: Piraten van de Dijle will inaugurate the floating garden. This garden is designed especially to relieve the survival challenges facing people who live in unusual daily situations. During the launch you will learn unique survival skills that can be used in urban environments and floating gardens. This garden has been created by Piraten van de Dijle in close collaboration with the artist Maria Lucia Cruz Correia and Straathoekwerk Mechelen.

The floating garden is an attempt to create a genuine, functioning utopia and to become a live, living archive of survival stories and struggles. The guests of honour for this launch are the Piraten van de Dijle team (a community project by Straathoekwerk Mechelen), who will maintain the garden.

Toxic Atmospheres is a presentation by editorial board member of Scapegoat, Elise Misao Hunchuck, on her ongoing research into the Human Exclusion Zone that surrounds the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (also known as the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation (Зона відчуження Чорнобильської АЕС), the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, or, the Zone). The Zone may officially be designated a human exclusion zone, but it is far from empty and certainly does not exclude humans. It is a highly managed landscape, requiring some 3000 workers who continue to build and maintain containment and transportation infrastructures, decommission reactors, monitor radioactive contamination, and research the ongoing effects upon flora and fauna. In recent years the Zone has garnered an international reputation as a site of post-nuclear re-wilding and, of course, dark and toxic tourism.

Sites are bound by property or containment lines, yet their material relationships extend over untold distances. This ongoing research traces the movement of material between landscapes, using hard and soft infrastructures. Sometimes this movement is reciprocal and sometimes it is not. In Landscapes of Post-History (2018), Ross Exo Adams claims that landscapes function both as archives and historiographical texts. In this presentation, the audience is invited to participate in tracing the histories, present and futures of Chernobyl's infrastructures and all of their materials and mediations: as circulating, sedimenting, leaking, crystallizing, sinking, diffusing, melting and even petrifying.

During the Full Moon Saddie Choua (BE) and Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide) (NL) will have a conversation on a sofa about their work. They will talk about healers and healing, decolonisation, the position of the moon, medicinal herbs and Dutch cabinets.

This is the fourth Heart-to-Heart Conversation between artists and contributors to the Biennale in a series of several conversations held throughout the year. Heart-to-Heart Conversations about fears, reflections and attitudes can induce openness and willingness to debate crucial social and political questions of the past, present and future in Belgium and elsewhere.

For Contour Biennale 9’s full moon cycle, COYOTE will host a critical meal: a shared dinner prepared in collaboration with Voice of Mechelen. This event aims to draw on the relationships between eating and place, ingredients – their origins and the route they take to your plate – roots and transplants, ecology and politics.

The meal counts on the support of local participants dedicated to different forms of circular agriculture in Mechelen, who work to grow LEF produce (Local, Ecological and Fair). The meal will also feature a brief introduction by local agronomist Louis de Bruyn.

Environments is an open-ended environmental lexicon in the form of a collection of visual signs as propositions for thinking, speaking, feeling, acting and remaining in an increasingly devastated and contaminated world.