August 11, 2009

Contour 2009: Historiographic Art in Architecturally Historic Locations

"Vincent Meessen’s new film ‘Vita Nova’ takes as its point of departure a cover of the French magazine Paris-Match, from 1955. . . . The artist subsequently embarks on a search for Diouf, the child soldier, weaving an elaborate narrative that brings together phantoms from the colonial past, the writings of Roland Barthes – who wrote about this particular image – and issues that centre on the representation and re-writing of history, its repressed narratives, as well as the spectral nature of photography."

The video is being shown as part of Contour 2009, the 4th Biennial of the Moving Image in Mechelen, Belgium, which "presents artists working with film, video and installation in special locations in the historical inner city . . . ."

The show, called "Hidden in Remembrance is the Silent Memory of Our Future," is curated by Katerina Gregos and includes commissioned works by 18 artists; the website's extremely helpful.

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