Manifesta 9: The Deep of the Modern

“Manifesta 9: The Deep of the Modern” opened recently in the coal mining complex André Dumont in Waterschei, Genk, Belgium. The unusual combination of art and heritage, as well as the first attempt in history to provide visitors with an overview of how coal mining influenced modern art, are intensely felt at this exhibit.

The Manifesta 9 exhibition venue features an educational hub and mediation center, forming the nucleus of the activities, ranging from concerts, tours, and workshops to performances with artists. The program includes workshops for students, training sessions for primary and secondary school teachers, visits by students of international art schools and a special Manifesta 9 publication.

The publication accompanying Manifesta 9 is not a typical exhibition catalogue. It adopts the form of an encyclopedia, encompassing the arguments proposed by the curators, serving as a reference book and as a record of the research processes behind the biennial. It will include extensive extra content, such as video material from the preparations of the exhibition, the opening, interviews with previous Manifesta collaborators, plus content and practical information concerning the biennial.

This is the first time in its history that Manifesta has taken place in a single venue. The starting point — the Campine coal-mining region in north-eastern Belgium and the previously abandoned recently restored Waterschei mine complex in Genk — is a landscape with many layers. It is a region of garden  cities, factories, canals, roads and railroads built throughout the 20th century soley to serve the coal-mining industry. Manifesta 9, so tightly wrapped around the relationship between the North-Eastern region of Belgium and the modern art historical trajectory, is an event not to miss. Manifesta 9 takes place from June 2 until September 30, 2012.