Royal itineraries
An interview with Sven Augustijnen by Raimundas Malasauskas
Monday, 20th march 2006
Dear Raimundas,
‘Thanks for the invitation of the interview. And what a coincidence: our King Albert II visited your country today! I learned that Lithuania was a kingdom as well a few hundred years ago and an extensive one at that – it stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea! It’s probably not helping my career, but I am really getting into the history of the Belgian royal family. To start with Leopold I for example, the founder of the dynasty, whose funeral in particular is fascinating. Or rather his funerals. He requested to be buried with his first wife, Princess Charlotte, in the Saint Windsor Chapel, but this was denied because of his protestant conviction and free-masonry relations. When they finally decided to bury him in the old church of Notre-Dame de Laeken, the catholic clergy refused that his mortal remains access the church. And so he was without a final destination. In the end a compromise was found: an opening was made in the wall and the coffin was slid into the royal crypt so that his corps didn’t have to be carried through the church. Later, they created an outside entrance to the royal crypt - one that still today can be accessed without having to enter the church. Do you have any interesting stories to tell about your King before I try to respond to some of your questions?’
Raimundas Malasauskas: Unfortunately our only King, King Mindaugas, was assassinated before your first king was born, and since he was the one to Christianized Lithuania there were no churches yet to accommodate his burial. There is a national holiday on July 6 though. But let me get to the first question: Have you read Jack Burnham’s book Beyond Modern Sculpture? He argues that we are changing from an object-oriented world to a system-oriented world, and that art is involved in doing it right now.(1)
Sven Augustijnen: ‘I didn’t read the book. Maybe we are changing from an object-oriented world to a system oriented world and art is involved in it, but people involved in the art market would rather stick to the object. Somehow it gives them something to hold on to. In the end we believe that a piece of wood or a canvas is worth much more than its material value. A world without the object might be too confrontational - this might force people to realise there’s some enchantment or bewitchment involved, and that realis
