Koen Vanmechelen is, among other international artists, invited for a unique open air exhibition called ‘Amàre’ in Damme-Brugge: a cultural art route that aims to bring visitors closer to nature and the history of the region. Àmare is all about the love for the region and its products, the romance of the landscape and the connection of the Damse canal with the sea (in French: à mare). With his hybrid work ‘Golden Cord’, Vanmechelen also creates a connection to the rest of the world, through a golden horn; an umbilical cord on a large skull.
Amàre, art in open air
Annelies Ysebaert, curator of this exhibition and owner of the modern art gallery Gallery Ysebaert joined forces with Luk Beke, a local entrepreneur, to breathe life into Amàre. The art route takes you around the ‘Damse canal’ and allows you to enjoy the work of renowned Belgian and international artists at around 20 locations. By foot or by boat, you find artworks on atypical locations though the route, an experience that will intrigue you unexpectedly.
Golden cord
Vanmechelens work ‘Golden Cord’ is installed on the central market square of Damme. Golden Cord is a series of sculptures are hybrid works of phantasmagoric, composite animals. They bear the umbilical cord of connection, a connection to the rest of the world. The golden membrane stretching outwards - the Golden Cord - reveals that they are born from a change in their environment. Always they carry that connection, that other element that sets them on their path. There is always serendipity. The golden element shows that the umbilical cord is indispensable. This is what happens when life seeps in. The cord is an antenna, a horn, a connection. The unicorn is always present.
Collaborating artists
Willem Boel, Athar Jaber, Stijn Cole, Sylvain Patte, Jan De Cock, Stief DeSmet, Jan Fabre, Nadia Naveau, Kris Martin, Katleen Vinck, Eudald de Juana Gorriz, Caroline Coolen, Wim Delvoye, Nick Ervinck, Arne Quinze, Stefaan Van Biesen, Atelier Van Lieshout, Catherine Thiry, Marius Ritiu, Koen Vanmechelen, Ronald A. Westerhuis en Yves Velter.
Practical info
Amàre
Diverse locations in
Brugge-Damme
1/07-31/10/2023