Danh Vō in
Kunstenfestivaldesarts
14 May — 1 June 2024
Boulevard d'Ypres 20, Brussels, Belgium
In the context of the 2024 edition of Kunstenfestivaldesarts, a mobile installation by Danh Vo in collaboration with students from Athénée Royal de la Rive Gauche, Laeken (ARRG) will be shown in the public space at Boulevard d'Ypres 20, Brussels.
The projects of Danh Vō – born in Vietnam and raised in Denmark – weave personal intimacy into broader themes of history, power and memory. He takes objects steeped in historical and design contexts and realigns them in his installations and sculptures. Aestheticised in a new way, they amplify and transcend their pasts. When invited to participate in this year’s festival, Vo put forth a recently acquired 1970s Fiat hearse. He wished to repurpose the sleekly designed vehicle, with its large windows and spacious interior, as a mobile flower shop nomadically serving the people of Brussels. He collaborated with young car mechanics and electromechanics in training at a local school (Athénée Royal de la Rive Gauche, Laeken) to collectively design the transformation of the hearse. They worked together for months, taking art and floriculture courses, and composing bouquets using plant and mechanical components. Two worlds that seemed far apart now come together in this constant shift of meaning found at the centre of Vo’s artistic practice. The result is a new aesthetic venture, a visually iconic mobile sculpture circulating the city. Vo’s work is a complex image of our society with multiple conflicting registers, a memento mori, a chariot spreading beauty in the urban sphere.
Practical details: The mobile installation can be seen at several locations, on selected dates and times: on three Thursdays at the Monument voor de Oorlogsduif/au Pigeon-Soldat (16, 23, 30 May); on three Fridays in the square behind the KVS BOL (17, 24, 31 May); and on seven other dates at Boulevard d'Ypres 20 (14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 May and 1 June). Outside these hours, you can also see the vehicle parked at Boulevard d'Ypres 20 (through the glass door).
On 20 May at 15:00, there will also be an Artist talk with Danh Vo. The entrance is free for all activities, no registration required.