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Reminder: press visit on Thursday 2.Apr.26 at 11:00

S.M.A.K. presents new work by the Chilean artists Francisca García and Mario Navarro
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You are warmly invited to the press preview of the exhibition Unearthed Conversation by Francisca García and Mario Navarro at S.M.A.K. on Thursday, 2 April at 11:00, in the presence of the artists and curator Philippe Van Cauteren.

From April 3 to September 13, 2026, S.M.A.K. presents the exhibition Unearthed Conversation by the Chilean artists Francisca García and Mario Navarro. At its core is the Atacama Desert at the mouth of the Loa River in northern Chile, a landscape where archaeology, science, and political history converge. From traces of the ancient Chango culture and similarities with the surface of Mars to the presence of the world’s largest telescopes and the scars of Pinochet’s dictatorship, the exhibition unravels stories and traces of forgotten pasts.

The exhibition Unearthed Conversation presents exclusively new work by the artists. In 2022, this project was developed as a proposal for the national pavilion of Chile at the Venice Biennale, but it has only now been realized.

Press release and images

Lars Duchateau Portretten Curators SMAK Srgb Web 14
Lars Duchateau
News in brief

Samuel Saelemakers started as the new Head of Programming, Collection and Research at S.M.A.K.

As of March 2026, Samuel Saelemakers has joined the team at S.M.A.K., where he will lead the Programme, Collection and Research team.

Samuel Saelemakers has extensive experience as an exhibition maker, lecturer, commissioner and collection curator. Prior to his appointment at S.M.A.K., he had been Curator of the Antwerp Public Art Collection at the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp since 2019. There, he collaborated with artists such as Sammy Baloji, Daniel Dewar & Grégory Gicquel, Lili Dujourie, Ken Lum and Goshka Macuga. Previously, he worked as a curator at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art (now Kunstinstituut Melly) in Rotterdam from 2012 to 2019, where he realized exhibitions and publications with, among others, Kasper Bosmans, Douglas Coupland, Camille Henrot and Judy Radul. From 2017 to 2022, Saelemakers was affiliated as a lecturer with the Curatorial Studies programme (KASK Ghent, Ghent University and S.M.A.K.).

“I look forward to working with the entire team on the future of this unique museum. Transparency, generosity and the voice of the artist will be guiding values in this process.” - Samuel Saelemakers

Contact

Fran Bombeke
Press & Communication
fran.bombeke@smak.be
+32 (0)494 90 71 66

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