Agenda 2021 - Stefaan van Biesen

A G E N D A : 2 0 2 1 > >

E X H I B I T I O N S :

[Verbinding / Connection] travelling educational art project ⋈ RASA Belgium 2020 > 2021.

Artists: Agnieszka Lepka (PO), Annemarie Maes (BE), Bronwyn Katz (Z-A), Daniel Steegmann Mangrané (SP/BR), Gino Rizzi (IT/BE), Jalila Essaidi (NL), Koen Vanmechelen (BE), Ledell Moe (Z-A), Lizan Freijsen (NL), Otobong Nkanga (NI/BE), Rosana Paulino (BR), Shaakira Jassat (Z-A/NL), Solanga Pessoa (BR), Stefaan van Biesen (BE), Thijs Van der Linden (BE), Tinka Pittoors (BE).

[Precious Cargo, Precious World 2020-2021] Art Science Exhibits Berlin Germany. Mary Patricia Warming.

[Weed & Herbs Drawings] Vijd project Herbarium exhibition ⋈ Beveren Belgium 16.05>05.06.2021.

[Sporen in het landschap] Moerbeke Belgium ⋈ 01.07 > 20.09.2021 Curator: Olivier Deprez.

A R T • I N T E G R A T I O N S :

[(V)ader] Wall integration/installation ⋈ Cortewalle castle Ter Vesten Belgium 2020 > 2021.

P U B L I C A T I O N S :

[Rooftop Gardener] The Art Couch Belgium ⋈ Kunstcahiers: sketchbook publication 22 artists 2021.

[Psiax # 4] Publication on drawing and walking ⋈ University Guimaraes Portugal.

MOZAÏEK [Mijn naam is Vijd] CC Ter Vesten Beveren Belgium ⋈ Artistic multi-disciplinairy research 2021.

A R T I S T I C • R E S E A R C H :

[Oratio De Hominis Dignitate] Drawings & visions ⋈ an artistic research about the human condition 2021.

[The Veronica Suite] contemporary nomad stories based on the painting of Robert Campin 2021.

P R O J E C T S :

[Under the Church Tower] exhibition project ⋈ artists, curators, locations ⋈ Belgium & Middle East 2021.

[The Walking Body III] Minho University Guimaraes Portugal 2021.

[Earth Connections] Archive of Art/NaturSci Movement & Art Science Exhibits Berlin Germany.

[Fingers Don't Know What The Hand Will Do] joint project with Annelies Slabbynck 2021.

C O M M I S I O N E D :

[Thought Carrier] watercolor on paper ⋈ Prices spiritual and christian Book ⋈ edition 2020.

[Drawings] A new book by Pascal Coppens about China ⋈ Pelkmans Publisher 2022.

E N G A G E M E N T S :

Co-founder and member of the Milena principle [international independent art platform].

Founding Member of the Art/NaturSci Movement international art & ecology project.

Member of ArtScie Exhibits community Berlin Germany Humboldt University Mary Patricia Warming (USA).

Member of underthechurchtower.org an artistic dialogue with artists form Belgium and the Middle East.

More info about the projects in 2021 > >

scroll to the bottom for the projects in the beginning of the year 2021 until now > >

Or see agenda 2020 > >

[Sporen in het landschap] Moerbeke Belgium. 01.07 > 20.09.2021 Curator: Olivier Deprez.

Location: Lippens site & park.

Installation work by the green department of Moerbeke Buzzer (I) in situ 2021.

[Skin on Skin] Digital sepia print on transparant canvas - performance 1996 [reprint 2021].

[Conversation Units] 1994 In situ installation [representation/remake 2021].

[Buzzer (I)] tree Installation 2002 [representation/remake 2021].

[Rooted/Wortelingen] Digital print of drawing on transparent canvas [reprint 2021]. Installation on the local market place at Tree of Freedom. This installation 'rooted' refers to the two failed attempts to grow the tree of freedom.

The large, red oak on the Moerbeke market is more than just a tree. This American oak was planted as a freedom tree in the spring of 1934 as a memorial to the liberation. The oak was the third attempt to plant a freedom tree in the heart of Moerbeke. In 1919, after World War I, an Olm was planned as a memorial to armistice. This tree died in 1931. In 1932 the municipality planted a red beech as a second attempt, but it only survived for one year. The red oak still adorns the Moerbeke market as a freedom tree to this day.

[Psiax # 4 Journal] Publication on drawing and walking ⋈ University Guimaraes Portugal.

Read extract pdf of the publication: Walking on Paper > > >

Studies and Reflections on Drawing and Image 2nd series, nº 4

The next issue of PSIAX journal focuses on the question: "How walking and drawing intersect". What works, art pieces, projects or theoretical considerations allow us to show, and to question, the act of walking, of wandering, as well as its joint - intertwined - purpose of drawing? In the well-known expression of the Spanish poet A. Machado, we can read that "there is no road, the road is made by walking”. Within this sense, which overruns the idea of a method, of a path already known, we could say that the act of drawing is done with the "walking" of drawings but also within the possibility of, while walking, the draftsman giving meaning to the power of drawing. Whether as a travel experience, as a short break in the territory's journey, as an exercise in analysing or recording the landscape, or as a projective, poetic or performative action. What practices, themes, contents, and what results, allow to simultaneously integrate the gesture of drawing and the experience of the walker, the flâneur, the traveler or the passerby? Thus, drawings, artistic projects, images, papers, essays, contextualizing or critical texts are intended to account for and / or problematize the experience of walking / drawing.

Artists publication: José Miguel Carvallo Cardoso [Portugal] • Metod Blejec [Slovenia] • Michael Croft [Thailand] • Rosie Montford [UK] • AllheyhiAll [Various artists] • Fabio Araujo, Paulo Luis Almeida [Portugal] • Claudia Amandi, Paulo Freire de Almeida [Portugal] • Pedro Maia [Portugal/Spain] • Paula Simoes, Susana Mendes Silva [Portugal] •

( V ) A D E R Wall installation/integration with drawings at Cortewalle Castle Beveren Belgium 2021.

Joos Vijd who lived at Cortewalle ordered the Ghent Altarpiece [1432] from Jan Van Eyck. This work is a memorial to him and his wife Isabella Borluut.

Wall installation (V)ADER [Father/Vein] 2021. A Spin off the exhibition Mozaïek [Mijn naam is Vijd]. CC Ter Vesten Beveren Belgium 01.07 > 11.10.2020. A multi disciplinairy project.

See pdf project (V)ADER English > >

See pdf project (V)ADER Nederlands > >

In response to the Jan Van Eyck year in 2020 and at the invitation of CC Ter Vesten and Erfgoed Beveren, Stefaan van Biesen started in the spring of 2019 an artistic research into the figure of Joos Vijd who ordered the Ghent Altarpiece [1432] from Jan Van Eyck. The local government of Beveren asked Stefaan van Biesen to realize a permanent installation in the Cortewalle castle, which was once the residence of Joos Vijd in the fifteenth century. This wall installation is based on the exhibition 'Mozaïek [Mijn naam is Vijd] that took place in 2020. This work is inspired by the heraldic family tree that is present in the castle.

Tekst Nederlands door Johan De Vos, lees pdf > >

English text by Johan De Vos, read pdf > >

Above: pencil drawing [artistic research] by Stefaan van Biesen 2019.

Apart from the historical facts and existing documents, we can only guess at the intentions and ambitions of Joos Vijd. This sometimes leads to different views and interpretations. Nevertheless, it seems somewhat plausible that Joos Vijd had a great preference for the circles from which the painters Van Eyck have extracted their knowledge and can therefore not be seen merely as the principal and financier of the Ghent Altarpiece. The fact that Philip De Goede, given the size and duration of this work, agreed to 'lend' Jan Van Eyck (who was also responsible for the glamor of the Court) to a subject like Vijd, is special and indicates a great affection towards Joos Vijd.

[Kunstcahiers] The Art Couch Belgium ⋈ sketchbook publication 2021. [Dutch language].

Sketchbook (VII) 'Rooftop Gardener' 2012/2017 Stefaan van Biesen. This sketchbook is the story and reflection of conversations and reflections about beekeeping and gardening on the roofs of buildings in major cities [such as Athens, NY, Berlin, Lisbon, Leipzig, Porto, Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, where I worked as an artist]. A necessary exercise to preserve the bee population in an important urban biotope. The beekeeper as an urban guardian in metropolises where the bee populations are housed, where roofs are a vegetable garden for the local residents.

Sketchbooks that travel with me during projects, as a philosophical walk of thoughts from which performances, installations and texts for new projects can arise. I regularly work with the bee world in my projects. I also see this natural biological 'organization' as a metaphor for a caring utopian society.

Is there anything more intriguing than an artist's sketchbook? It is the place to be for experimenting with new ideas. New twists and turns fall into a still uncertain fold, the young seeds of a possible masterpiece are laid. What relationship does an artist forge with his sketchbooks? Does he leave room for mistakes, failures, or does he already try to approach the final result as closely as possible? Do they, as some have found, just a warm-up before getting into the "real" work, a meditative exercise for getting in shape? Are they free musings or technical exercises? Many artists maintain an almost intimate relationship with their sketchbooks. For this first edition of the new publication KunstCahiers, we selected 22 artists who will share their private, hesitant pages with you. It provides an intriguing journey to the origin of their creative process.

Link to order: https://www.theartcouch.be/kunstcahiers/

[Weed & Herbs Drawings] Vijd project Herbarium exhibition ⋈ Beveren Belgium 16.05 > 05.06.2021.

Christa Maes [nature development Beveren] plans an exhibition about the herbarium. Previously exhibited plant drawings, which were shown in the Mozaïek [Mijn naam is Vijd] / Mosaic expo [My name is Vijd], together with new drawings, are shown in this project.

Drawings of plants: plantain and dandelion 2020.

[Brainrooted] exhibition project ⋈ artists, curators, locations ⋈ Belgium & Middle East.

UNDER THE CHURCH TOWER is an exhibition project that links a broad range of artists, curators and locations from the Belgian and Middle East region. Numerous initiatives, exhibitions and residencies have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. The momentum has been lost but the need remains: to create, to connect and to exhibit.

https://underthechurchtower.org/

Why Artists and curators are forced to work locally, or ‘under the church tower’ as said in Flemish, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Residencies and exhibitions have come to a halt. The momentum has been lost but the need remains.

What -An exhibition project that connects a wide range of artists, curators and sites, both in the Belgian and Middle East region. -A work in progress that begins and expands locally and on a small scale; the fragmentation and multiplicity forms the whole. -Small physical exhibition sites within existing institutions, in both regions, are the starting point. -Visibility gradually increases thanks to a website with images and texts about the participants, whose locations are indicated on a geographical map.

How A key team monitors both content and process and defines the framework. The role of this team is to define a clear context, to guide, to accompany. Each contact introduces another new artist or location to the project. The key decision-making criteria are: perception, position, border areas, mapping, measuring and monitoring.

Who Key team: Jack Persekian, artist and curator > Al Ma’Mal Foundation, Jerusalem > Els Van den Meersch, artist > Els Vermeersch, curator > Griet Dobbels, artist > Essa Grayeb, artist >

Where Emergent, Veurne, B Al Ma’ Mal Foundation, Jerusalem And many more to come..

[The Veronica Suite] contemporary nomad stories based on the painting of Saint Veronica,

[Flémalle panels circa 1420-1425] by Robert Campin [Flemalle's master, 1378-1445].

With all the suffering that continues to dominate the contemporary world, it is a justification to bring this age-old theme back to the spotlight in a contemporary way. For the last 10 years I took pictures of people I met all over Europe. Refugees, migrants, colleagues and friends. We all have a migration background. Everyone bears their own shared suffering. The entire cycle is based on the painting of Saint Veronica, [Flémalle panels circa 1420-1425] by Robert Campin [Flemalle's master, 1378-1445].

Sudarium 1 to 8

When we consider the theme of the painting [apart from Christian iconography], it is essentially a person, Veronica, who, in a universal gesture of compassion, takes care for a politically condemned dissident. She wipes his face with a sweat cloth. His bloodied face makes a lasting print on the woven cloth. She declares her solidarity with his suffering. And it is also a wordless sign to him: "you are not alone, despite everything. Know that I know and that I think of you! "

By her action and intention, she stands out from the group, on the side of the road where the executed is on his way to the execution of his death sentence. As a woman she symbolically places herself as the mother of all mothers in the world. Her mother's heart is stronger than the ratio of the fate of the person who passes her with all his pain and despair. In this way she also places herself as the mother of all who suffer. As an archetypeal image of carers worldwide.

Volto Santo The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium (Latin for sweat-cloth), also known as the Vernicle and often called simply the Veronica, is a Christian relic consisting of a piece of cloth said to bear an image of the Holy Face of Jesus produced by other than human means (an acheiropoieton, "made without hand"). Various existing images have been claimed to be the original relic, as well as early copies of it; representations of it are also known as vernicles. The story of the image's origin is related to the Sixth Station of the Cross, wherein Saint Veronica, encountering Jesus along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary, wipes the blood and sweat from his face with her veil.

[Thought Carrier] watercolor on paper ⋈ Prices spiritual and christian Book ⋈ edition 2020.

https://www.prijsreligieuzespiritueleboek.be/

[Thought Carrier] Watercolor by Stefaan van Biesen

Winners edition 2020

WINNERS OF THE SPIRITUAL AND CHRISTIAN BOOK 2020 AWARDS.

Due to the Corona measures, the public presentation has been replaced by a personal presentation to the authors (in Leuven and Utrecht) by the chairman of the jury, honorary rector Rik Torfs. Spiritual Book Prize 2020: Roger Burggraeve for "No future without small goodness" published by Halewijn Christian book prize 2020: Erik Borgman for "All things new" - KOK publishers. Audience Award 2020: Roger Burggraeve for "No future without small goodness" published by Halewijn The laureates received a work of art from Stefaan van Biesen (www.stefaanvanbiesen.com) and Els Vos (www.elsvos.be) from the hands of jury chairman Rik Torfs.

[Oratio de hominis dignitate] An artistic research.

Drawings & visions about the human condition 2021. This artistic project aims to make a connection between our human and social behavior in relation to the literary and philosophical legacy of the renaissance writer and thinker Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.

This artistic research is conceived as a commentary on human behavior in relation to social, ecological, philosophical visions and observations. It is a multidisciplinary diary in which certain of these themes are questioned in order to understand what concerns people. Pico della Mirandola's metaphysical vision, based on Neo-platonism, [prayer in the Renaissance world of ideas], is taken as a guideline for portraying these phenomena.

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, count di Concordia, (born Feb. 24, 1463, Mirandola, duchy of Ferrara [Italy]—died Nov. 17, 1494, Florence), Italian scholar and Platonist philosopher whose 'De hominis dignitate oratio' [Oration on the Dignity of Man, a characteristic Renaissance work composed in 1486], reflected his syncretistic method of taking the best elements from other philosophies and combining them in his own work.

Fragment: "At last the best of artisans ordained that that creature to whom He had been able to give nothing proper to himself should have joint possession of whatever had been peculiar to each of the different kinds of being. He therefore took man as a creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the middle of the world, addressed him thus: “Neither a fixed abode nor a form that is thine alone not any function peculiar to thyself have we given thee, Adam, to the end that according to thy longing and according to thy judgment thou mayest have and possess what abode, what form, and what functions thou thyself shalt desire. The nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the bounds of laws prescribed by Us. Thou, constrained by no limits, in accordance with thine own free will, in whose hand We have placed thee, shalt ordain for thyself the limits of thy nature. We have set thee at the world’s center that thou mayest from thence more easily observe whatever is in the world. We have made thee neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with freedom of choice and with honor, as though the maker and molder of thyself, thou mayest fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt prefer. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy soul’s judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, which are divine.”

Pico dela Mirandola [1463-1494], Oration on the Dignity of Man.

[Earth Collections: Precious Cargo, Precious World 2020]

Exhibition Onboard the AVONTUUR, a Sailing Cargo Ship. Trapani, Sicily October 20th - ongoing. A project of ArtScie Exhibits Berlin. Curator: Mary Patricia Warming [Berlin/USA].

Stefaan van Biesen 2020. Earth Collections, the Permanent Collection of the Art / NaturSci Movement

Time is pressing. In over 4.5 billion years of geological time, Earth’s carbon cycle has suffered few extremes like today's. We and our fellow species are in trouble - here and now. The immediacy of the effects of weather changes, humankind’s degradation of the forests and oceans, and the intimacy of the effects on us, is stunning. And the driving force for the determined action of many to meet these challenges head on. And so, Art Science Exhibits Berlin has developed the most solution based partnership possible - with Timbercoast Shipping, a brave, new company offering zero carbon footprint for transport. Because when people begin to connect to beautiful answers, change can occur.

See: https://www.artscienceexhibits.com/2020-artists-blog

Artists, curators and activists: Schlumpf Stefan, Stefaan van Biesen, Manuela Fischer, Michela Codutti, Alisi Telengut, Agnieszka Kozlowska, les Marneurs, Gerardo Nolasco, Frédéric Durieu, Alex Jordan, helmut weissert, Dave Biddle, Jayanna Killingsworth, Nikaya, Gautier Nicoli, Mary Patricia Warming.

About: Set in motion by international artist mp Warming, Art Science Exhibits Berlin is an independent enterprise created, and consistently recreated, by artists and scientists. The exhibitions and public programs we present work to greater the sphere of ArtSci conversation - towards positivity and solutions. Our mission for the future of nature-kind is to help regenerate Earth's ecosystems through innovative ideas and partnerships.

Future: Soon we will travel the Mediterranean for our first launch of Earth Collections, the Permanent Collection of the Art/NaturSci Movement. The collection will be a part of AVONTUUR's Manifest, which in turn will become a part of Earth Collections' archive. This Manifest, and our solution based exhibitions on Climate Change and Ecosystem Regeneration, is our Manifesto. With Timbercoast's AVONTUUR, we hope to influence a limit to the vast carbon footprint and pollution caused by shipping worldwide. Together we are working towards sailing the Adriatic into the 2022 Venice Biennale.

[Verbinding / Connection] Travelling educational art project RASA Belgium 2020 > 2021.

Photos of the works: 1. Landscape/Mindscape [child version 2020] > 2. glass jar: a part of the Library of Walks [2020] > 3. Head book: Letters to an Orchard [prop for a silent performance 1996].

[Nomad Memories] [Fingers Don't Know What The Hand Will Do] an ongoing writing project with refugees, with newcomers from Europe and elsewhere. Shown at Art Platform Project Athens 2017, CAS Ostend 2019. A participation with Annemie Mestdagh and Annelies Slabbynck.

Letters written by several people who came here to Europe as refugees since the 1990s. Their handwritten letter in their own original language contains an anecdote or a story about their flight to Europe. The hope of a safe life with better living conditions. The contents of the letter remain with the artist and the writer. What remains is the image of a handwriting letter in the shape of a hand. A silent witness of suffering or joy. Realisation sleeves: Annemie Mestdagh.

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