3 april t/m 19 juni 2016

with works by: Semâ Bekirovic, Joseph Beuys, Sara Bjarland, Melanie Bonajo, Laura Gozlan, Maartje Korstanje, Katja Novitskova en Janis Rafa.

Curator: Julia Geerlings

In the spring exhibition the disappearances of bees is used as a metaphor for the fragility of nature and the way artists redefine the relationship between humans and animals.

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” is a dystopian famous quote attributed to Albert Einstein. Also anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner predicted already in 1923, that the bees will have a hard time as the artificial beekeeping would continue for over 100 years. It turned out to be a prophetic prediction in 2006 when the world was startled by mysterious bee deaths. The colony collapse disorder leaves scientists still puzzled. The phenomenon may have far-reaching implications for food production, because the pollination of many crops is carried out by bees.

Since time immemorial animals form the basis of our existence and our culture, but the relationship between humans and animals has become much more distant by globalization, urbanization and technological progression in today’s modern society. At the same time every day hundreds of thousands of photos and videos of (adorable) animals are uploaded to the Internet. The growing bio-industry and genetic manipulation to animals are part of the public debate, which increase the focus on animal welfare and animal rights. We forget sometimes that we humans are also mammals ourselves and that the differences between humans and animals (and even insects) are not as big as we often believe. Man indeed possesses an innate capacity for language, but we also know more about the complex way in which animals communicate.

The artists Sema Bekirovic, Joseph Beuys, Sara Bjarland, Melanie Bonajo, Pierre Huyghe, Laura Gozlan, Maartje Korstanje, Katja Novitskova and Janis Rafailidou reflect through video works, sculptures and installations on the alleged oppositions between nature, animals and man, which (not entirely unexpected) result in a better understanding of the “condition humaine.”

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In de lentetentoonstelling The Prophecy of Bees wordt de bijensterfte aangewend als metafoor voor de kwetsbaarheid van de natuur en de manier waarop kunstenaars de relatie tussen mens en dier herdefiniëren.

‘Als de bijen uitsterven, zal de mensheid vier jaar later volgen,’ is een bekend dystopisch citaat toegeschreven aan Albert Einstein. Ook Antroposoof Rudolf Steiner zei – in 1923 al – dat kunstmatige bijenteelt het de bijtjes juist moeilijk zou maken. Het bleken profetische voorspellingen; in 2006 werd de wereld opgeschrikt door een plotselinge mysterieuze bijensterfte. De bijenverdwijnziekte (‘colony collapse disorder’) stelt wetenschappers nog altijd voor een raadsel. Het fenomeen kan verstrekkende gevolgen hebben voor onze voedselproductie, omdat de bestuiving van veel landbouwgewassen door bijen plaatsvindt.