COLOPHON

Published byPeter MoorsChairman of the Management Committee for the FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

Rue des Petits Carmes 15B-1000 BrusselsTel. +32 501 81 11Diplomatie.belgium.be

Cultural heritageCurator: Ilse Dauweart@diplobel.fed.bediplomatie.belgium.be/belgianartanddiplomacy

Communication: Graphic design: Iris Van RobaysPrinting: FOD Buitenlandse ZakenFront cover: Shirley Villavicencio Pizango, Adventure of freedomBack cover: Hans Vandekerchove, Brexit trees

All rights reserved.Photographic material may not be reused.This publication is purely for informational purposes and is non-binding.

Legal file number: March 2020.

KINGDOM OF BELGIUM

Federal Public Service

Foreign Affairs,Foreign Trade andDevelopment Cooperation

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AAKT MACHTL’UNION FAIT LA FORCE

The spontaneous, unconventional paint-ing style in a clear colour palette from the Peruvian-Belgian Shirley Villavicencio Pizango (°1988) characterises itself as a cross-over between her life in Ghent and her heritage from South American culture. The human figures were created based on living models in her studio, such as this portrait of a Chinese young woman. The artist had got to know her during her stay in Japan and invited her to visit Belgium. In this portrait, she gives expression to something she noticed in her knowledge of China: a discovery and confrontation with freedom during her travels around Europe, which turned out to be in sharp contrast to her own cultural background.

The background of the multi-disciplinary artist Vincent Ubags (°1982, Liège) is in graphic design and he considers himself a self-taught painter and movement designer. Among other things, he created the web-site for Frédéric Platéus and took part in the group exhibition Focus on 25 artists at the Belgian ambassador’s residence in The Hague in 2015. His work seems to originate from street art and has a three-dimensional calibre. He does not seem averse to a dash of the surreal or kitschy.

In the late 1960s, the experimental artist Leo Copers (°1947, Ghent) launched the saying “A new idea every day”. In contrast to conceptual artists, the creation of an art-work does not end with the discovery of a new idea for him. He considers the materi-al development of this to be essential. The artist alludes to expectations, making use of tension and irony. He manages to stir up edgy connotations through startling combi-nations and contextual changes.

The artworks of the multi-disciplinary visual artist and researcher Wim Wauman (°1976, Sint-Niklaas) are described as visual puz-zles, with subtle contradictions. Each art-work can be viewed as a challenge, an exercise in an intellectual and artistic pro-ject, whereby any certainty can be trans-formed into a question. Shadowplay could be viewed at the PhotoBrussels Festival until January 2020 and other work could be viewed at our neighbour, the Korean Cultur-al Centre, which the Chairman’s office looks out onto.

This first series of works gives con-sideration to younger generations, various media and current topics, without losing sight of the aesthetic aspect and with room for the local voice, an appetite for dialogue and an inspirational, creative and prob-lem-resolving disposition. All art-works are the property of the FPS Foreign Affairs.

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Art in the office of the Chairman of the Management Committee for the FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

Since 1 December 2019, the winds of change have been blowing at the FPS with the appointment of Peter Moors as the new Chairman of the Management Committee. Since 12 March 2020, this is also expressed in the works of art in his office. This art will be changed over time. A look at the first series of works.

Brexit Trees from the figurative painter Hans Vandekerckhove (°1957, Ingelmunster) was inspired by the scorched forests from Noir Flohay, the High Fens in Belgium, which gradually come back to life after a fire. The Shard, the well-known skyscraper in Southwark, London, is a symbol of tech-nical ingenuity and is constructed from re-cycled materials. Both elements are hopeful motifs. The painting certainly invites further dialogue about Europe and the climate.

The work of the young Congolese pho-tographer Gosette Lubondo (°1993, Kin-shasa) deals with memory and the history of places and people, while also creating an archive for the future. The subject of this photo, education -for girls-, is an important investment in human capital, for the de-velopment of individuals and society as a whole. The new Chairman, who spent part of his career with Development Coopera-tion, has a great interest in education for girls as a lever for development and wom-en’s rights.

Philippe Timmermans (°1957, Wilrijk), who previously carried out sculpting com-missions in museums and worked in the publicity and design sector, has been fo-cusing on his own sculpting work since 2011. Timmermans’ starting point here is his sense for shaping figurative sculptures. His sculptures are described as cautious, vul-nerable answers to a diverse range of ques-tions or considerations. They give form to intangible feelings and reflections. Caesum, in Latin, means a pause or break. The im-age depicts a moment of (self-)reflection and silence. Sometimes it is necessary to stand back and take stock of the situation before making a decision.

Luc Tuymans (°1958, Mortsel) is consid-ered one of the most important European painters of the moment, with a considerable influence on a young generation of artists. As a child in the 50s, his relationship with the art of painting was heavily influenced by other media such as photography, tele-vision and cinema. Given that he often bas-es his paintings on existing imagery, they can be viewed as composed abstracts of reality. The imagery is nonetheless often darker than it appears; Tuymans’ interest in the enduring consequences of colonialism and (the) world wars has serious repercus-sions for his subjects. By examining certain imagery through the use of photographic techniques such as cropping, framing and close-ups, he calls the image into question in this image culture.

Hans Vandekerckhove, Brexit Trees, 2016, oil on canvas, H 120 cm x W 150 cm

Gosette Lubondo, Imaginary Trip II, 2018, Inkjet print on

Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper, 5 +2 AP, H 50 cm x W 75 cm

Philippe Timmermans, Caesum, 2015, Bronze, edition 5/8 (8+4 EA), H 58 x W 45 x D 25 cm

Luc Tuymans, The conversation, 1995, Lithography on Hahnemühle paper 200 grams, 106/150, H 50 cm x W 65 cm

Shirley Villavicencio Pizango, Adventure of freedom, 2019,Acrylic on canvas, H 95 cm x W 65 cm

Vincent Ubags, Landscape bag, 2015,oil and acrylic on canvas, H 40 cm x W 30 cm

Wim Wauman, Shadowplay (Ducks), 2011, Archival pigment print op fine art paper, dibond, Edition 1/3, H 55 cm x W 70 cm

Leo Copers, Untitled, 1989, Offset, 10/100, H 70 cm x W 50 cm