MECHELEN - CONTOUR 2009: BIENNIAL OF MOVING IMAGE
August 15 - October 18, 2009

The 4th edition of Contour, the Biennial of Moving Image, takes place twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall, a timely moment to consider recent history. Since then developments occur at a more accelerated pace. According to curator Katerina Gregos: "We are at a point where we believe that the past cannot teach us anything, which is a very precarious view. It is now more urgent than ever before to negotiate the present through an understanding of the past. This is also evident in the work of a growing number of artists whose work mines history and explores notions such as time, memory and remembrance".

Contour 2009 will revolve around questions of historical representation and historiography. It will explore how historical narratives are constructed, and will highlight the complex and often persisting entangle­ments between past, present and future. The artists in Contour 2009 aim to demonstrate how the residue of history affects our perception of the present as well as our visions of the future.

Participating artists: Eija-Liisa Ahtila (FIN) | Herman Asselberghs (BEL) | Yael Bartana (ISR) | Ulla von Brandenburg (DEU) Andreas Bunte (DEU) | Lene Berg (NOR) | Michaël Borremans (BEL) | Matthew Buckingham (USA) Chto Delat (RUS) | Maryam Jafri (PAK) | David Maljkovic (HRV) | Vincent Meessen (BEL) Nathaniel Mellors (GBR) | Wendelien van Oldenborgh (NLD) | Julian Rosefeldt (DEU) | Mira Sanders (BEL) Yorgos Sapountzis (GRC) | T.J. Wilcox (USA)

Contour takes place every two years, and runs for two months, from August to October. From its inception in 2003, the Biennial has presented itself as 'the first comprehensive exhibition in Belgium entirely dedicated to art made in moving image.'

More information:
www.contour2009.be.

Image:
Michael Borremans, Taking Turns, 2009
35 mm fi lm, colour, silent
8' 33" - Courtesy Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp