Filip Van Dingenen

2006
Five years ago, Filip Van Dingenen (b. 1975, Diest) set up ZOONATION. What started as an exploration of the history and fate of the former Limburg Zoo in Genk (Belgium) grew into a large-scale artistic project. In 1967, the Wauters family founded the private zoo in the park of the residence of the former director of Zwartberg coal mine. It soon became a popular tourist attraction. In spite of the many efforts of the owners and their public-friendly approach, the initiative caused a great deal of controversy. After it was closed down in 1998, most of the animals had to move. The zoo grounds were redeveloped and the zoo disappeared for good in 2002. Over the past few years, the artist Filip Van Dingenen has travelled to zoos in Spain, Russia, Denmark, Taiwan, the US and South Africa. The former residents of Limburg Zoo, now in their new homes, could be said to make up a 'zoonation' . They are the only witnesses of this bizarre and almost incredible story of the former mine site in Genk. On his many travels, Van Dingenen observed and analysed the visual culture of the zoo from various historical, anthropological, typological and aesthetic angles. In collaboration with FLACC, he set up the web project www.zoonation.be a while ago. In autumn, as a companion to this virtual platform for multidisciplinary research, an eponymous publication, will appear, with the support of the cultural department of the city of Genk, in which the artist elucidates his total project. The book, designed by Luc Derycke, is a startling hybrid synthesis of a tourist guide for zoo visitors, a report of a cultural-historical expedition and a pseudo-scientific case study. On Open Monuments Day, Sunday 10 September, Filip Van Dingenen is giving two lectureson ZOONATION in the director's villa of the former Zwartberg Zoo. An exhibition of his work in Genk City Hall will run from 9 September to 14 October 2006. Sunday 10 September is also when Platform Limburg Beeldende Kunsten will launch the web project ZOONATION - MAKING OF on www.platformlimbrug.be/beeldende_kunsten.