Short impression of visiting JR: Chronicles in the Groninger Museum in Groningen, The Netherlands — a major show of the work of the artist JR, organized by the Brooklyn Museum. Here focusing on the video wall of Inside Out projects, screening our short film Béguinage Refugees Into The Wild.
The exhibition is touring the world. First , the Brooklyn Museum in New York from October 4, 2019 – May 3, 2020. Next, the Saatchi Gallery in London from June – Oct 2021. And more recent the Groninger Museum in Holland (The Netherlands) from Nov 2021 untill June 2022 — filmed here June 2022. A promotional film with images of all these places was posted 20220107.
The show highlights JR’s global public participatory art project INSIDE OUT ( @insideoutproject ) .
A video wall is screening the Best of INSIDE OUT videos – including our film ‘Béguinage Refugees Into The Wild’ – a short documentary on the Inside Out project “Justice for Afghan refugees in Belgium”.
Our short film documents the Afghan refugees living in the Brussels Béguinage church , with music by Félix Snyers on the Béguinage church pipe organ, and their portrait’s (posters) by Chiara Ravano for the Inside Out project “Justice for Afghan refugees in Belgium” exhibition at Olivier Bonny’s workshop in Salon Mommen, Brussels, Belgium, March 2014. A Beguinage Project report by Kristen Cattell & Michel van der Burg.
License info JR: Chronicles Groninger Museum | 20230301 | Miracles•Media | TakeNode fbe93b03-5b53-4b3f-92ce-df537ffc1d96
Video report of the preview 19 Jan 2023 presented by photographer Jo Struyven of photo exhibition ‘236 — Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy’. Photo exhibition of works by Jo Struyven and Luc Tuymans in the Jewish Museum of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium | January 20 – August 14, 2023. License info : 236 Land(es)capes 20th convoy | 20230126 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | TakeNode 428839bb-7165-4771-a490-27158928ec25
On April 19, 1943, the 20th transport left the Mechelen transit camp to deport 1,631 Jews to Auschwitz. Thanks to resistance actions, both inside and outside the wagons, 236 of these deportees managed to jump from the train that would lead them to destruction.
Photographer Jo Struyven revisits this unique act of resistance in Western Europe during the Nazi regime and shows us the landscapes in which this little-known story took place.
From 20 January 2023, the Jewish Museum of Belgium, in partnership with the Auschwitz Foundation, presents the exhibition entitled ‘236, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy’. It is set up in the museum’s project space and offers an artistic look at an exceptional and forgotten event in the Second World War.
The 20th convoy
At 10 p.m. on April 19, 1943, the 20th convoy departed from the Kazerne Dossin transit camp in Mechelen with 1,631 Jewish deportees in cattle cars, heading for Auschwitz. Thanks to resistance actions, both inside the wagons and from outside, 236 of these deportees managed to jump from that train, that was leading them to extermination. An unique event in Europe under the Nazi administration.
Jo Struyven, photographer
The work of the Belgian photographer Jo Struyven (°Sint-Truiden, 1961) takes us back to these acts of resistance – commemorating the 80th anniversary in 2023 – and gives us a glimpse of the landscapes in which this striking story took place. Taking the perspective of those who jumped off that train, an act for which many of them paid with their lives, Struyven creates a contemporary ‘memorial’ with 19 large ‘nocturnal’ black and white images, and one colour print.
Jo Struyven :
The 20th convoy, heading for the unspeakable “Auschwitz”, crossed the area where I grew up, barely 50 meters from my childhood bedroom — I found out 2 years ago after meeting Simon Gronowski. Ever since, I imagine the distress of the deportees. The destination was unknown to them. Some, sensing the worst, tried to escape it. I wanted to give an account of this border between life and death, between resignation and the impossibility of choosing, and the freedom regained with resistance to the oppressor’s plans.
Works presented by Jo Struyven
Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy, 2020-2022, 19 black and white prints, 1 color print, 90×60 cm (Private collection – Belgium)
Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th convoy 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Wijchmaal (Private Collection, Belgium)Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Bierbeek (Private Collection, Belgium)Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Borgloon (Private Collection, Belgium)Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Piringen (Private Collection, Belgium)Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Botzelaer (Private Collection, Belgium)
Luc Tuymans, visual artist
In dialogue with Jo Struyven’s photographs, two works by Belgian visual artist Luc Tuymans (°Mortsel, 1958) evoke the destruction of the Jews and Roma of Europe. Die Wiedergutmachung (The Reparation) depicts body parts – left the eyes of gypsy children who had been experimented on by the Nazis. … images that in its incompleteness, reflect the inability to represent facts and memory .
Works presented by Luc Tuymans
Luc Tuymans, Our New Quarters, 1986, Oil on canvas, 80,5 x 120 cm (MMK – Germany) (Photo Ben Blackwell, courtesy David Zwirner, New York, London)Luc Tuymans, Die Wiedergutmachung, 1989, Oil on cardboard, mounted on plywood, Oil on canvas; diptych, 36,6 x 43 cm, 39,4 x 51,8 cm, courtesy: Private collection (Photo Studio Luc Tuymans)
Art after the Shoah
“Writing a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric”, wrote German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno in 1949. Through two contemporary perspectives from the visual arts, this exhibition seeks to address this question of the (im)possibility of art after the Shoah in a new way.
Testimonies & Catalogue
This exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue book edited by Daniel Weyssow and Jo Struyven and published by the Auschwitz Foundation entitled Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy (press release on April 19, 2023), as well as an educational space presenting the testimonies from interviews and archives of convoy escapees.
Info+ ( & Français | Nederlands)
236 Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy Jo Struyven / Luc Tuymans Exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Belgium, in Brussels, Belgium 20 January – 14 August 2023 Brussels Website https://www.mjb-jmb.org
Video report : Vernissage ‘236’ Land(es)capes 20th convoy
Thursday January 19th, 2023, the vernissage of the photo exhibition 236 — Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy was opened with speeches by Philippe Blondin, President of the Jewish Museum, and by Pierre-Yves Jeholet , Minister-President of the Government of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels. Next, the Belgian photographer Jo Struyven presented his work — escape landscape photographs glowing in the dark — like being lit by moonlight — as well as paintings contributed by Luc Tuymans in the project space. The exhibition runs from January 20 – August 14, 2023 in the Jewish Museum of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium. Video report (20230120) Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media .
Jan 20, 2023 – VRT | Kristien Bonneure (Belgian Flemish Broadcast) 20 jan 2023
Photographer Jo Struyven presents a preview of his work last night , Thursday January 19th, 2023 at the vernissage of 236 — Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy , an exhibition of works by Jo Struyven and Luc Tuymans in the Jewish Museum of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium, open from today for the public January 20 – August 14, 2023.
On April 19, 1943, the 20th transport left the Mechelen transit camp to deport 1,631 Jews to Auschwitz. Thanks to resistance actions, both inside and outside the wagons, 236 of these deportees managed to jump from the train that would lead them to destruction.
Photographer Jo Struyven revisits this unique act of resistance in Western Europe during the Nazi regime and shows us the landscapes in which this little-known story took place.
The vernissage was opened by Philippe Blondin, President of the Jewish Museum, and by Pierre-Yves Jeholet , Minister-President of the Government of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels.
Follow-up post tomorrow 20230121.
License info : Vernissage ‘236’ Land(es)capes 20th convoy | 20230120 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | TakeNode 5e71633a-0ff2-44bf-99dc-34f3db25bb26
Simon Stompin’ at the Saint Sépulcre | 20221119 | Miracles•Media | Rushes with a rough cut for Miracles film – vibrant memories – not forgotten – that vibrant testimony , swinging jazz of Simon Gronowski Stompin’ at the Saint-Sépulcre school in Liège (BE).
Thanks to friends Philippe Renette, Simon Gronowski, Koenraad Tinel (Photo Dieter Telemans featured in Der Welt , Saturday 16th Nov 2013 – Feinde wie wir, by Felix Stephan) and help by Patrick (sound), staff Marc Belleflamme, André Hérin, teachers Christine Marchal, Ingrid Lothe, others, and the Saint-Sépulcre students participating that 19 november 2013 , today 9 years ago, during this unique human adventure. They hosted 3 sessions that day. Time to share … waiting for the film is taking long … here rushes with a rough cut ..enjoy! Filmed by Michel van der Burg at the Station Luik-Guillemins – Liège-Guillemins, in Luik, and Institut Saint-Sépulcre , Liège (BE), 19 november 2013. License info: Simon Stompin’ at the Saint Sépulcre | 20221119 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | @michelvanderburg | TakeNode ID: 94510c1e-1ae4-42a3-9467-251dafd4c9ad
Quote | 20221103 | 1-memo•com | “Every day I make something. Then in the evening there’s something in the world that wasn’t there in the morning.
— Gemma Edelsteen | Marja Pinckaers
This echoes in my mind once in a while – part of the rationale for making daily 1-memo’s . First read these original Dutch* lines August 2014 — shortly after I carefully started publishing ‘① memo dailies’ June 2014 — in the Dutch paperback ’16 versie 61′ by Marja Pinckaers (publ. Aspekt ISBN 9789461535740 ).
Short review was posted August 2014 : 16versie61 Marja Pinckaers | 20140829 | 1-memo•com
Beta testing iA Presenter slide software prompted me trying this ‘text’ memo post.
*Original dutch text by Marja Pinckaers :
‘Elke dag maak ik wat. Dan is er ‘s avonds iets op de wereld wat er ‘s ochtends niet was. Of mischien toch, maar moest ik het nog zoeken en vond ik het. Uit.’
Atelier Marcel Hastir 2020 | 20220805 | 1-memo•com | Sonja filming Michel filming Francine Legrand’s 1938 oil painting portrait Woman in Window by the Belgian painter, theosophist, resistance fighter Marcel Hastir (1906-2011) in his Brussels’ Atelier, Feb 2020.
michelvanderburg•com 