VERNISSAGE
Henrike Naumann: WESTALGIE, Merle Vorwald & Tom Bogaert

IKOB cordially invites you to the opening of the exhibitions Henrike Naumann: WESTALGIE, Merle Vorwald: DAUERGLOSS und Tom Bogaert: VENDELZWAAIER – FLAGGENWERFER.

We start at 3pm with a welcome and a speech by the directors. Afterwards we will toast the three exhibitions together with hot dogs, beer and the artists present. We are looking forward to numerous visitors!

About the exhibitions:

Henrike Naumann combines installations that work simultaneously as period rooms and exhibition spaces. Her most important source of inspiration is her own biography. Born in the GDR, she was an active witness to her country’s transformation and is constantly investigating how the interior design of rooms and the objects within them unconsciously affect their users or consumers. Naumann questions the apparent neutrality of furniture and decoration, focusing on their ideological messages and building bridges between history, design and a collective unconscious.

Merle Vorwalds work DAUERGLOSS (2023) is a confrontation with right-wing extremism in Germany since 1945 – as a continuity from the Third Reich, to the Federal Republic, to the right-wing realities of the present, and as a formative part of her family’s history. Vorwald appropriates the biography of her grandfather, a Nazi, and her own upbringing in his direct proximity is the starting point for this artistic research spanning three generations.

Tom Bogaert grapples with his youth as a member of a so-called flag thrower’s association – and the question of how it was possible for him to unwittingly throw around the Flemish flag emblazoned with a lion as a teenager. He has been collecting photos, videos, and archival material, presented for the first time at IKOB.