DINNER’S SERVED ! FROM FIELD TO PLATE

When : Until june 3 2012
 Monday till Friday : 9am to 5pm
Weekend, festivals and school holidays : 10am to 7pm

Where : Tour & Taxis av. du Port 86 1000 Bruxelles

Rates : 6€/12€

        Website : http://www.expo-atable.be/en

A fascinating exhibition that asks today the questions for tomorrow. In 2050, our planet will have to provide food for 9 billion people. What are the stakes, how does the system function today and how is it to change in order to satisfy this demand by keeping, or rather inventing a fair allocation? An exhibition with a rich scenography. A multi-modal museography: graphic frescoes, audiovisual productions, exceptional items, photographs, electro-mechanical interactive displays, windows of discovery, tactile monitors etc. Contemporary art works mark out the exhibition halls.

WUNDERKAMMER

When : Until january 29, 2012
 Wednesday to Sunday from noon til 20pm

Where : Le Botanique, Rue Royale, 236 1210 Saint-Josse-ten-Noode

Rates : 5 € / 4 € : seniors, students, groups,

         Website : http://www.botanique.be

The story of the curiosity cabinet can be traced back to the pharmacists and people of culture living in all four corners of Europe in the midst of the 16th century. These learned people were eager to build up huge collections of rare or curious objects evoking images of uncharted territories.

These collections of objects are akin to the treasures to be found in temples dating back to ancient times or churches built in the middle ages. Booties plundered in far-off lands or the relics of saints offering evidence of other worlds, representing a symbolic and political capital of great importance.Curiosity cabinets act as a showcase for the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms, while incidentally holding a mirror up to human achievements.

The Wunderkammer exhibition is fittingly focused on the links between nature and creative activity, discoveries and a new espousal of nature. The collection of works on display, as though in a cabinet, is attuned to the noble principles of unity linking together all manner of things. At the centre of our occupations, contemporary artists tap into an inexhaustible reserve of shapes and colours, materials and objects, furthering their development in the light of achievements that are both unique and part of our heritage. Tattooed skulls, animals stuffed and stretched, human bones wound with red threads as a fine emblem of the relationship between artificialia and naturalia.

They might not always be aware of the fact, but these artists are part and parcel of the continuing nature of the history of curiosity. These authentic works are collected together wunderkammer-style, and the same is obviously true of the accompanying texts - everything is true, humankind says so!
Antonio Nardone