Exhibition: Let's Play Museum
M HKA, Antwerp
10 June 2023 - 17 September 2023
©M HKA en De Studio
Come and play at the M HKA this summer. Dangle on Kati Heck's swing, or play a game of bowling on Dialogist-Kantor's bowling alley. If you want to imagine yourself as a life-size doll, take a seat in Job Koelewijn's packaging boxes. And you can play hide and seek behind the curtain of Nel Aerts, or give Christophe Terlinden's gumball machine a spin – for ten cents.
Let’s Play Museum is a unique museum experience for and by children, organised by arts house De Studio in the M HKA. Together with a class of 9-year-olds, De Studio's curator Marc Verstappen delved into the collection of the M HKA. Jointly, they questioned the laws of the museum and our relationship to art. The children chose works of art that triggered their imagination or stimulated their senses. The result? An interactive and playful art experience for everyone who feels young.
And there is more… For 'Let’s Play Museum', Daems van Remoortere created Sundance, a fountain that moves in the direction of the sun. Man and animal face each other in Herwig Ilegems's video work Head to Head. Benjamin Verdonck presents two large collections of objects he found in everyday life, and Randall Casaer invites you to look, contemplate and feel – starting from instructions. In the centre of the room you will find a mini exhibition of No Limits! Art Castle. The project brings together work by artists from the regular art circuit and artists that work outside of it. On the roof terrace you can indulge in Gijs Coenen's sculptures, or in Lisa Matthys' art installation Het museum van de onschuld [The Museum of Innocence], a construction site where children are the boss. And you can settle down with a book(let) in the seats in the exhibition space.
Toddlers and pre-schoolers can head to a room that Theater De Spiegel has especially set up for them, with a children's cinema and a 3D sound system. In addition, De Spiegel presents two theatre performances in the middle of the M HKA space. Allemaal beestjes is a performance in a small cinema. Aorta was created especially for this project and will premiere on 5 August 2023. Tickets are for sale via De Studio.
In short, this summer the entire museum will be transformed into a playful hangout for families.
The collaboration between the M HKA and De Studio is part of the development of a new museum, with a future new building for the M HKA. The new museum offers a place for meeting and mutual exchange. Let’s Play Museum is an experiment in integrating new perspectives in that space.
With work by Nel Aerts, Hicham Benohoud, Christian Boltanski, Sergey Bratkov, Randall Casaer, Gijs Coenen, Vaast Colson, Daems van Remoortere, Luc Deleu, Fabrice Gygi, Kati Heck, René Heyvaert, Herwig Ilegems, Dialogist-Kantor, Anish Kapoor, Job Koelewijn, Tom Liekens, No Limits! Art Castle, Imge Özbilge, Panamarenko, Ben Sledsens, Roman Signer, Walter Swennen, Christophe Terlinden, Dennis Tyfus, Benny Van den Meulengracht-Vrancx, Michael Van den Abeele and Benjamin Verdonck. In collaboration with NO LIMITS! ART CASTLE (NL) work will shown by Saaber Bachir & Kenza Taleb, Aàdesokan & Yasmine van Haesebroucke, Saman Khoshgbari and Ayse Somuncu & Bas Kosters.
No Limits! Art Castle is a project by Jan Hoek that sets up collaborations between artists from the regular art circuit and outside of it. In the M HKA, No Limits! Art Castle shows work by Jan Hoek, Bruin Jackson, Aàdesokan, Yasmine van Haesebroucke, Saman Khoshgbari, Joey Bocciardo, Fenna Miedema, Nancy Keizer, Jessica van Halteren, Georgy Dendoe, Tirino Yspol, Bas Kosters, Ayse Somuncu, Kasbah Kosmic, Bonne Suits, Sijtse Keur, Norbert de Jong, Alexxx, Hans Klastat, Minke de Fonkert, Antoine Monod de Froideville and Brenda van Vliet.
Also in collaboration with class 4C of Sint-Lievenscollege Antwerp.
Take a virtual tour through this exhibition >
WorksShow artists
> Panamarenko, Zwitserse fiets [Swiss Bicycle], 1967. Object, tin, cardboard, linen, 61.5 x 60 x 66 cm .
> René Heyvaert, Zonder titel (Broodkruis) [Untitled (Bread Cross)], 1981. Sculpture, bread, wood, 118 x 118 x 4 cm.
> Luc Deleu, Obelisk, 1983. Sculpture, lego, 226 x 91 x 91 cm.
> Keith Haring, Zonder titel [Untitled], 1987. Film, acrylic, 330 x 645 cm.
> Hugo Duchateau, De groeiende ladder [The growing ladder], 1987. Sculpture, wood, latex, 190 x 1950 cm.
> Christian Boltanski, Réserves: Meurtres [Reserves: Murders], 1989-1990. Installation, wood, paper, light, 200 x 500 x 500 cm.
> Anish Kapoor, Untitled, 1991. Sculpture, pigment, stone, 122 x 77 x 101 cm.
> Benjamin Verdonck, Cadeaux d’anniversaire, 1995-2019. Other, tables, mixed media.
> Roman Signer, Arbeiten [Works], 1996. Video, digital betacam, pal, stereo, 00:17:00.
> Hicham Benohoud, Untitled [from the series 'La salle de classe n°2'], 2000-2002. Photography, silver gelatine print, 60 x 80 cm.
> Fabrice Gygi, Parcours vita, 2000. Installation, paint, metal, 12 x (80 x 35 cm), 12 x (25 x 35 cm).
> Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Pilots and stewardesses, 2003. Photography, photo on aluminium, 7 x (40 x 30 cm).
> Tom Liekens, Heart of Darkness, 2004. Painting, oil, acrylic and bister on canvas, 270 x 500 cm.
> Benjamin Verdonck, Kapellen, 2006-2023. Multiple, paper and cardboard, 24 x .
> Vaast Colson, To retitle an object daily during the course of a show , 2006-2013. Object, H 95 cm.
> Job Koelewijn, Boys & Girls, 2006. Multiple, wood, 3 x (200 x 80 x 40 cm).
> Christophe Terlinden, Gum-Kunst [Gum-Art], 2006. Installation.
> Dialogist-Kantor , L'Art du lendemain, 2009. Installation, bowlingbaan uit 38 houten panelen, 10 houten kegels en 2 houten bollen (grotendeels uit recuperatiemateriaal), 25 x 120 x 1500 cm.
> Nel Aerts, Hide And Seek, 2014. Installation, textile, iron, wood, 188 x 125 cm.
> Imge Özbilge, Camouflage, 2016. Video, animated short film, 00:05:31.
> Ben Sledsens, Two Knights and a Lady, 2018. Painting, 230 x 210 cm.
> Lisa Matthys, Museum under construction (part of The Museum of Innocence), 2022. Installation, wood, variable.
No image
> Randall Casaer, In de hoek, 2023. Other, text on the wall, divers.
> Herwig Ilegems, Head to Head, 2023. Video, video, 00:12:58.
> Daems van Remoortere, Sundance, 2023. Installation, mesh gravel, water, epdm foil, wood, lacquer paint, fountain, scenario controller and spotlights.
> Theater De Spiegel, Aorta. Other.
> Michael Van den Abeele, Cat Economy #3. Painting, oil, canvas, 80 x 60 cm.
> Michael Van den Abeele, Cat Economy #2. Painting, oil, canvas, 80 x 60 cm.