Bucharest Biennale recommends Summer Of Contemporary Art In Flanders

VISUAL ARTS FLANDERS 2012:

SUMMER OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN FLANDERS, BELGIUM! DON’T MISS IT!

     Flanders is the place to visit in 2012 for both those who take a professional or leisurely interest in contemporary art! 2012 will bring the coinciding of important exhibitions of visual art taking place in Flanders, Belgium. 
     Visual Arts Flanders 2012 is proud to present Beaufort04 (Belgian coast), TRACK (Ghent), Middelheim Museum 2012 (Antwerp), Manifesta 9 (Genk) and Newtopia: The State of Human Rights (Mechelen). The convenient geographic location and the shared focus on contemporary art of these five events have triggered the creation of an international communication platform that comprehends all of these appealing events into one coherent cluster. 
     In 2012 Belgium’s neighbouring countries also offer major happenings in contemporary art such as dOCUMENTA (13) (Kassel, Germany), London 2012 Festival - Finale of the Cultural Olympiad (UK), Fantastic / lille3000 (France) and MONO (Centre Pompidou-Metz, France together with Mudam, Luxembourg).
     Visual Arts Flanders 2012 is convinced that the high quality standard of each of the five exhibitions represented will persuade the professional and touristically inclined art visitor to also stop over in Flanders when travelling to art events in Belgium’s neighbouring countries.

The Cluster:

     Beaufort04 is the fourth edition of the Triennial of Contemporary Art by the Sea. A selection of contemporary artists from all over Europe will show their work in locations dispersed all over the Belgian Coast.
     Building on the tradition of Chambres d’Amis (1986) and Over the Edges (2000), TRACK in Ghent invites thirty-five international artists to take their art outside the museum. Their works of art will be presented at several indoor and outdoor locations in six areas of the city of Ghent. 
     The Middelheim Museum in Antwerp is constantly in motion, but in 2012 it will be undergoing a major metamorphosis. A newly built semi-open pavilion will be inaugurated with an exclusive exhibition of works by Thomas Schütte. The entire Middelheim collection will be reviewed and renowned artists, such as Roman Signer, Ai Weiwei and Philippe Van Snick, will present new works, custom-made for the museum. In the Braem Pavilion (Braempaviljoen), fashion designers Bernhard Willhelm and Jutta Kraus will be displaying an initial selection of pieces of international importance from the Middelheim collection.
     For its ninth edition, Manifesta 9, the European Biennial of Contemporary art settles down in Genk. The former mining region will be host to emerging international artists and will focus on issues such as the social repositioning of a post-industrial society as well as on new possibilities to deal with material and immaterial cultural heritage.
     Newtopia: The State of Human Rights is the first major comprehensive international contemporary art exhibition dedicated to the issue of human rights and its evolving discourse. The exhibition, which will be on view at a number of cultural institutions in Mechelen - a city whose roots go back to the humanistic tradition of Erasmus and Thomas Moore thus providing an appropriate context for the exhibition - and will contain work by over 60 acclaimed and emerging artists of different generations working in all media.
     The five cities where the events take place are geographically positioned in the region of Flanders, no more than an hour away from Brussels and at almost equal travelling distance from the exhibitions in Belgium’s neighbouring countries. Travelling to and from one of the five cities/areas is easy and fast by means of plane, high-speed train or car. 
     The Visual Arts Flanders 2012 coordination centre is a joint initiative of the Flemish Institute for Visual, Audiovisual and Media Art (BAM), the Flemish Arts and Heritage Agency and the 5 participating institutions and organisations. It is the very first time that contemporary art organizations embrace the opportunity to use their international appeal and reach as leverage. The project not only sets out to reach specific communication goals and visitor figures per target group but strives to create know-how and best practices for the individual organizations as well as the arts sector in Flanders and beyond. 

Beaufort04 - Triennial of Contemporary Art by the Sea

Belgian Coast

31.03 ›› 30.09.2012

TRACK – a contemporary city conversation

Ghent

12.05 ›› 16.09.2012

Middelheim Museum 2012 – a restyled open-air museum

Antwerp

Opening on 26.05.2012

Manifesta 9 – European Biennial

Genk

02.06 ›› 30.09.2012

Newtopia: The State of Human Rights

Mechelen

01.09 ›› 10.12.2012

     Accreditation for press and art professionals for the 5 exhibitions can be requested online on the press page: www.visualartsflanders2012.be/press.
     The Visual Arts Flanders 2012 Pass was developed to provide the public free access to the 5 cluster exhibitions and reduced entrance fees to the other contemporary art exhibitions in Flanders and also France this summer. The pass can be purchased online at www.visualartsflanders2012/pass and with Fnac.

www.visualartsflanders2012.be

     The Visual Arts Flanders 2012 website contains all necessary information to make the most of your leisure trip or professional visit, including lodging and travel information concerning the cities and regions involved, with a specifically designed offering. For professional visitors accreditation will be available online as well as travel discounts from the above mentioned travel partners.