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Exhibitions and projects

Art in the City organises short-term projects and art interventions in public space in Antwerp.

The Art in the City exhibition programme consists of projects by artists on various scales and of differing duration. What they have in common is that they formulate an artistic, visual response to questions about art in public space. These include: What is the present-day role of monuments? Which people deserve to be placed on a pedestal in the city? How do we relate to collection items from the past when the social context in which they were created is substantially different from today’s society? Which other art forms might enrich our public space in addition to the traditional statues?

These short-term projects are a way of putting the existing historical collection in dialogue with contemporary perspectives and art practices. They are also the perfect way of giving shape to new aims and ambitions for Antwerp’s public art collection, of investing in young artists, and of listening to innovative voices in the local and regional art world.

Exhibitions in the city shorten the distance between the public, the artwork, and the artist. As such, questions concerning the social predicament of life in the contemporary urban context are never far off. The short-term projects by Art in the City make it possible to respond to current issues and to link up with an international frame of reference.

On view

Public Figure #4: Iván Argote

Friday 12 May 2023 from 0:00 until Sunday 19 May 2024 0:00

For the fourth edition of Public Figure, artist Iván Argote presents Antipodo, a new bronze sculpture about opposite and shared walks of life.

Past projects

Public Figure #1: Tramaine de Senna

3 July 2020 until 18 April 2021

The inaugural edition of Public Figure presents a new sculpture by artist Tramaine de Senna (1981, California, lives and works in Antwerp).

Public Figure #2: Goshka Macuga

14 May 2021 until 15 May 2022

For the second iteration of Public Figure, artist Goshka Macuga makes a new sculpture that rejects the tradition of the lone hero on his plinth.

Public Figure #3: Mekhitar Garabedian

26 May 2022 until 23 April 2023

For the commissioning series Public Figure, every year a contemporary artist is invited by the Antwerp Public Art Collection (Kunst in de Stad) to make an artwork departing from the question: Who or what do we put on a pedestal in today’s public space?

Ken Lum. Time. And Again.

4 June until 3 October 2021

For his exhibition in the public space of Antwerp, artist Ken Lum creates a new series of billboards that question our relationship to work.

Resonance

Resonance is a temporary sculpture and series of performances by artist Germaine Kruip. It is presented in Antwerp Central Station and revisits the ongoing impact of the past through sound and space.

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