BRIEF ENCOUNTERS 39
This image Kibawa’s Little Boy by Sammy Baloji is an inky black sculpture in the shape of a crystal Left There were four sculptural interventions by Clara Spilliaert, called Listen Well, in the elegant, cloistered grounds of the Great Beguinage
problems and challenges and seek solutions through dialogue.’
Dialogue was a key part of the work’s
evolution. First the curators quizzed over 70 of the university’s top scientists on science’s evolution and its contribution to society’s challenges. Teir list of themes included: the nature of resilience, what makes a human (what is artificial, what is ‘natural’?), medicine for all, and who ‘owns’ knowledge and to whom is it owed? One chosen artist and one poet were then gathered together with smaller teams from diverse disciplines to workshop these ideas and inform their responses. Highlights included Congolese artist
Sammy Baloji’s monumental record of the sinister extractive relationship between his two homelands (he now lives in Brussels). Kibawa’s Little Boy is an inky black sculpture in the shape of a crystal in which uranium is formed (uraninite), a mineral that the Belgians mined extensively in the Katanga region, prior to independence. Tis was the uranium used by the US for the first atomic bomb (hence the title Little Boy, the nickname of the first atomic bomb). In 1954, KU Leuven founded a sister university in Leopoldstad (now Kinshasa), and its first chancellor was a nuclear scientist (Luc Gillon), who had the first nuclear reactor in Africa built on that campus. Embedded inside this split ‘crystal’ shape Baloji has placed a golden image of a traditional Mayombe funerary figurine, referencing the widespread colonial practice of appropriating these figurines for Belgian museums (the university
itself has some), as an icon to represent the ‘primitive’ knowledge of Africa in contrast to that of Europe. Who owns knowledge, and to whom is it owed, indeed? Berlinde de Bruykere, one of Belgium’s most famous sculptors, has contributed one of her profoundly moving Arcangeli. A bronze figure – its legs visible and remarkably flesh- like, its upper body shrouded in a blanket, appears to be either lifting off or landing, carrying the troubles of the world on its stooped shoulders – it is part of a series De Bruykere devised during the pandemic, as a tribute to those who died as well as those who cared for them. It is placed in the forecourt of a building used for student healthcare support. Tere were four sculptural interventions
by Clara Spilliaert (Listen Well) in the elegant, cloistered grounds of the Great Beguinage. Beguines were communities usually built by wealthy women when their husbands were away at war, lasting from the 13th to the 20th century. Tese communities supported women
With reference to only these works it’s apparent how skilfully this public art festival works to educate and enrich our understanding of Leuven’s history
living independently but also dedicated to caring for the poor and the needy, without the rules and restrictions of women living in convents. (I had no idea such communities ever existed. How delightful to find such resilience, and generosity, at a time when women had few options except those afforded by a husband or father.) Tis beguinage is now mostly occupied by postgraduates. Tere are four medieval wells here, on top of which Spillaert has placed ornate bronze covers, designed to represent layers of the female chest – first the skin, then the mammary glands, then the lungs and finally the blood vessels – the latter right at the centre of the community. With reference to only these few works it
is apparent how skilfully this public art festival in Leuven works to educate and enrich our understanding of the city’s history and its legacies, opening our minds to other eras, other ways of living. As a footnote to our visit, we’re told that with it being Belgium’s turn to nominate a European Capital of Culture, Leuven is on the shortlist for 2030. Te winner will be announced in September after FX has gone to press. I would be surprised if the other shortlisted cities had come up with a better demonstration than this of their ability, and eagerness, to make the most of that opportunity.
KU Leuven’s festival And So Change Comes in Waves continues throughout 2025. For details visit
kuleuven.be/600years/schedule/and-so- change-comes-in-waves
PHOTO: MARIJKE T KINDT
PHOTO: VERONICA SIMPSON
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