Bianca Baldi, Minia Biabiany, Gaëlle Choisne, Ade Darmawan, Edith Dekyndt, Suzanne Husky, Saodat Ismailova, Suzanne Jackson, Ann Veronica Janssens, Joan Jonas, Pauline Julier, Barbara & Michael Leisgen, Anne Marie Maes, Jumana Manna, Marisa Merz, Jota Mombaça, Nour Mobarak, mountaincutters, Otobong Nkanga, Kicsy Abreu Stable, Precious Okoyomon, Elizabeth A. Povinelli, Annie Ratti, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Maarten Vanden Eynde & Musasa, Cecilia Vicuña, Adrián Villar Rojas
How do we imagine living environments in a world facing planetary shifts and ecological challenges? ‘Magical Realism: Imagining Natural Dis/order’ brings together over thirty artists at WIELS and argos, offering new ideas and perspectives on the relationship with our planet.
The exhibition is an invitation to move away from systems driven by endless growth and resource extraction, encouraging a deeper connection with the many entanglements that shape our biosphere.
Artist Talk and Screening with, Bianca Baldi and curator, Matteo Lucchetti
Artist Bianca Baldi joins curator, art historian and writer Matteo Lucchetti for a screening and conversation on her new body of work Sicomoro Centenario. They will discuss how the work has unfolded across the exhibition Magical Realism at WIELS and in the Botanical Garden of Meise in the program of Publiek Park.
In her work, Baldi deals with the role of narrative as a means of knowledge production in both fictional and historical context. Appropriating a found photograph of a Ficus sycomorus from her grandfather’s personal archive, her most recent film takes us from Ethiopia’s long history of resistance to the fig tree as a more-than-human witness to cycles of time, resistance and regeneration. Together, Baldi and Lucchetti will explore the artist’s research project starting with a photograph from the 1930s and leading to recent travels to Ambo Ethiopia and Rome, Italy where she carried out a research residency in 2023.
BIO’S
Bianca Baldi (b. 1985, South Africa) is a Brussels-based artist whose work deals with the role of narrative as a means of knowledge production in both fictional and historical contexts. She is interested in the staging of identity and history and explores these themes in photography, film, writing and publishing. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 2007 from the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town, and completed her studies at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Her work has been featured in large international exhibitions, such as MOMENTA Biennale de l’Image, Tiohtià:ke/ Mooniyang/Montreal (2023); 11th African Biennale of Photography, Bamako (2017); 11th Shanghai Biennale (2016); and 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2014). Recent solo exhibitions include Patina, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel (2022); Cameo, Grazer Kunstverein (2021); Versipellis, Superdeals, Brussels (2018); Eyes in the Back of Your Head, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof (2017); and Pure Breaths, Swimming Pool, Sofia (2016).
Matteo Lucchetti is a curator, art historian, and writer. He is curator for contemporary arts and cultures at the MUCIV-Museum of Civilizations in Rome. Since 2011, he has been curating, with Judith Wielander, Visible, a research and support project for socially engaged artistic practices in a global context, run by Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Zegna, which has seen the creation of an intangible collection of over 200 artistic projects. He is also a guest curator for the Pompeii Commitment. Archaeological Matters project. He worked as curator of exhibitions and public programs at BAK in Utrecht from 2017 to 2018, and was curator of the 16th Rome Quadriennale. His curatorial projects include: Gala Porras-Kim: A Recollection Returns With a Soft Touch, Museum of Civilization, 2024; Museum of Opacities, Museo delle Civiltà, 2023; DAAR: Ente di Decolonizzazione – Borgo Rizza (winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale), for La Loge in Brussels, Madre in Naples, and the Berlin Biennale, 2022–2023; Sammy Baloji. Other Tales, Lunds Konsthall and Kunsthal Aarhus, 2020; First Person Plural: Empathy, Intimacy, Irony, and Anger, BAK, Utrecht, 2018; De Rerum Rurale, 16th Quadriennale, Rome, 2016. Among his most recent publications: Visible: Art As Policies for Care, with M. Angelotti and J. Wielander, Nero editions, 2024; Marzia Migliora: Seven Imaginative Exhibitions, with A. Cestelli Guidi, Nero editions, 2024.
LINKS
Sign up link: https://www.wiels.org/en/events/conversation-bianca-baldi-matteo-lucchetti
Midtown - Institution
Rue Van Volxemlaan 354, 1190, Brussels
Visit the website
WIELS is the leading centre for contemporary art in the heart of Europe’s capital. It’s a space for innovative ideas and creative experiences. WIELS aims to enrich the debate, provide new perspectives and stimulate the senses with a daring program.