MATCHBOX – Fia Cielen and Catherine Petre

In her films, drawings and sculptures, Fia Cielen summons up the image of a hybrid reality that temporarily changes appearance. Her oeuvre is to be interpreted as a contemporary cabinet of curiosities in which questions are posed concerning the distance of the modern man to his natural environment.
Fia Cielen is working together with Cathérine Petré. In Z33 they will at regular intervals invite visitors in the box to have their portraits drawn. During the drawing process the artists will exchange portraits. In so doing the Matchbox becomes a portrait generator in which the mingling demonstrates that the given borders between the so-called professional and non-professional artist reach the absurd. The medium of the art of portraiture exercised for time immemorial in the ‘high’ and the ‘low’ arts, perfectly lends itself to this. As from 11 July the completed portraits are being shown in Z33.
From 10 to 14 August Fia Cielen and Cathérine Petré will make use of the digital studio at FLACC to realise a special edition based on one of the portraits made in the Matchbox. On 13 August at 7pm the edition, together with the original drawings, will be presented at FLACC.

Z33 - Hasselt
TIME OF OPENING: 11 July at 9pm
12 July to 7 August: Tues-Sat from 11am - 6pm, Sun from 2pm - 5pm, closed Mon

Absolutely Free Festival - Genk
8 August from 1pm onwards

FLACC - Genk
10 to 14 August from 1pm - 5pm
Presentation edition: Thu 13 August 2009, 7pm

MATCHBOX – ON A VISIT IN GENK

Matchbox, an initiative of the non-profit organisation KUNSTWERK(t), is a travelling exhibition traversing all Flemish provinces and Brussels. Matchbox is an exhibition on wheels, in which the meeting between a professional and a non-professional artist stands central. At each interval, the work of two artists is shown, two artists between whom there is a definite ‘match’.
The fulfilment of this encounter is able to take-on many diverse forms. It might involve a real meeting between the artists, a recorded conversation, a confrontation with their work, the creation of a combined work, a work in which the professional artist intervenes, or else serve as a shared source of inspiration. Five partners are actively involved in this project: Kunstmuseum aan Zee, MuHKA, SMAK, WIELS and Z33. They form the anchor-points of the project in each province. In addition, the openings occur at the respective museum and are coupled with a special event. Following-on from this, three intermediate stops are made in the province, where the box is positioned for a period of days. Initiation of the Matchbox project took place on Saturday, 27 June in Z33 during the opening of the exhibition Werk Nu. The box remains there for another few days before travelling further to FLACC and the Absolutely Free Festival.

MATCHBOX – LIMBURG

Selection of artists made by Jan Boelen – Artistic Director at Z33 and Ronald Van de Sompel – Artistic Director at FLACC.

p>Absolutely Free Festival - C-mine, 3600 Genk: www.absolutelyfree.be
FLACC - André Dumontlaan 2, 3600 Genk: www.flacc.info
Z33 - Zuivelmarkt 33, 3500 Hasselt: www.z33.be

The coming year Matchbox will criss-cross the whole of Flanders, and will therefore once take place in an area near you. Follow its trajectory via www.matchboxontour.be
More info on Matchbox: www.kunstwerkt.be