On 12 October 2022, S.M.A.K. and art workplace De Zandberg made a commitment to connect the houses for a year. Art workplace De Zandberg is part of Group Ubuntu vzw, where about 40 artists with special needs work on their work. In Room 1 you can discover their artistic work.
Both houses set up a timeline at the start and marked key moments on it. The artists and S.M.A.K. people met behind the scenes and became familiar with each other's workings. S.M.A.K. also installed collection works at De Zandberg.
During the exchange, it soon became clear that our perception of time is of a totally different order. The museum is struggling with overcrowded schedules. In the art workshop, time ripples slowly along. Time is an essential ingredient in the framing of De Zandberg. There, artists can experiment, create and develop in peace without time pressure.
Research around 'time' in all its forms therefore became the starting point of various work processes. Moreover, S.M.A.K. inspired our artists around the theme with five works from the museum's collection. 'Wege' by Lois Weinberger, 'mon.-sun' by Jonathan Horowitz, 'Tableau piège' by Daniel Spoeri, 'Following The Right Hand of Doris Day In Young Man With a Horn' by Pierre Bismuth and 'The indefinite continued progress of existence and events (that occur in apparently irreversible succession)' by Adam Vačkář were installed for a time at De Zandberg. Thanks in part to these sources of inspiration, a substantial body of work emerged over the course of the year. Some of this inspiring process can be found across the full width of a wall in Room 1.
From 25 September to 5 November, a number of De Zandberg artists set to work in Room 1. Frédéric Deschamps palms the space like a laboratory. He interacts with the viewer and oracles about time. Klaus Compagnie writes on a board what he learns from you or predicts your retirement age. Kenny Callens makes family trees in which you too might appear, David Barbakadze treats fire, Hendrik Heffinck builds an interior in which everything is connected and Steffi Wastyn works with porcelain clay on a circular work of art. In addition, artists will be present at various times during interventions and separate actions.
