Bruges Exhibition Explores City's Global Ties, Decenters Western Art

(MENAFN- USA Art News) A new exhibition in Bruges, Belgium, aims to dismantle the perception of the city as an isolated European locale by highlighting its extensive historical connections with the wider world. Titled“Bigger Picture: Connected worlds of Bruges 900-1550,” the show also seeks to challenge the West's self-proclaimed centrality in civilization.

The exhibition is the inaugural presentation at BRUSK, a new gallery facility connected to the Groeningemuseum. Guest curator Peter Frankopan, an Oxford medievalist and author known for his history of the Silk Road, developed the exhibition. Visitors encounter Frankopan in a video presentation at the entry, where he addresses the concept of decentering the“West.”

The ambitious exhibition displays over 250 items, including significant paintings by artists such as Titian, Jan van Eyck, and Hans Memling. The collection also features diverse objects ranging from a chain mail jacket and ancient silk fragments to religious relics, manuscripts of North African and European origin, Turkish carpets, Viking artifacts, coins, and religious garments. This broad array of materials, intended to both demonstrate Bruges's international networks and decenter Europe, presents an initial complexity for the exhibition.

To navigate the vast collection, the exhibition is divided into four distinct“worlds,” each housed within intricately designed, cloth-delimited enclosures. For instance, the“North Sea World” features triangular panels reminiscent of sails, while the“Mediterranean World” is set under a pavilion-style tent. Each section also includes a unique soundscape, with the Mediterranean evoked by birdsong and creaking wagon wheels, and the“World of Christianity” featuring bells and more bird sounds. The“World of the Court” is accompanied by gentle string instrument music, similar to a medieval feast. These dramatically lit islands within the darkened gallery are visually connected by white lines painted on the floor, and enhanced by inventive animations, creating an installation reminiscent of the opening credits for Game of Thrones.

We previously reported:

The Musée Bonnat-Helleu in France, reopened last fall after 14 years of renovations, presents an exhibition challenging conservative trends in the art world.

Source: Hyperallergic

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