2_5_DiscoverBenelux_Issue15_March2015_Q9_Scan Magazine 1 20/02/2015 15:09 Page 31
Discover Benelux | Mini Theme | Culture Capital Mons
The year of living designedly The gaze directed at Mons by the arts world throughout 2015 brings increased focus on the activities of one of the city’s great creative institutions. Its exhibitions and competitions during this European Capital of Culture year merit attention. TEXT: MArTIN PILKINGTON
The WCC-BF – the World Craft Council’s branch for francophone Belgium – has been around for 30 years, but 2015 looks set to be its most exciting ever. “It’s clearly a significant period for the organisation,” says director, Anne Leclercq: “And we believe our flagship exhibition this spring, Madame est Servie, makes a great statement about who we are and what we do.” That statement derives from the nature of the exhibition, concerned with art and design as, in this case, it relates to the dining table, and the way it reaches out into the city. “Within our own building we’ll exhibit functional items like crockery, cutlery and textiles, along with the nonfunctional such as photos and sculptures on the same theme,” she says. “But simultaneously at restaurants including
L'Impératif, La Table des Matières, Les Gribaumonts, and D'Eugénie à Emilie, a table which people can reserve and eat at will be set with pieces by artists and designers from Belgium.” Belgian companies Eternum (cutlery) and Serax (crockery) sponsor the event. It could be said the organisation’s home for the last six years – part of the former municipal abattoir – demonstrates similar unconventional thinking, though Leclercq disagrees: “re-purposing old industrial structures makes sense. We’ve ended up with great spaces for displaying art and design – the superbly restored main gallery area has a uniquely serene atmosphere – as well as for practical tasks like training workshops, and legal consultations on matters like copyright and contracts.”
This year WCC-BF’s outreach will extend well beyond Mons. From October until the following January it is arranging exhibitions of works competing for the European Prize for Applied Arts it’s hosting. And this May an impressive contingent of its artists – among them Nevin Arig, Nathalie Doyen, Claire Lavendhomme, Antonino Spoto, Nelly Van Oost and Fabienne Withofs – will show work at the international salon Collect 2015, held at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in London. As Leclercq says: “Things here are always busy, we host four exhibitions every year, but 2015 is going to be very special – and hectic – indeed.” www.wcc-bf.org
LEFT: Linde Hermans, Tilting, 2011. Photo: Kristof Vrancken. MIDDLE: roos Van De Velde, Pur Sang, for Serax. Photo: Studio Marc Wouters. RIGHT: Antonino Spoto, Brown and blue vessel, 2014. Photo: D. Bastin.
Issue 15 | March 2015 | 31