as seen: manifesta one

watershei building steps © kjm

I visited the Manifesta exhibition with Marilu, which is being held this time around in Genk, Belgium. The setting is an old, empty coal mining factory, and the work in the show relates to ideas of labor and production. Much of it directly to coal mining, with some amazing documentary films on the subject. There were some worker-made paintings, which depicted the cramped mines, which strangely (or perhaps not) reminded me of depictions of African slave ships. And a great installation by Christian Boltanski, smart drawings by Ante Timmermans, and appropriately relevant photographs from China by Edward Burtynsky.

But equally as impressive was the cavernous watershei building itself, filled with the texture of many years of human presence, sweat and labor.