When the sky Is low and heavy : David Lamelas and transnational heritage in Flanders
- Author
- Elize Mazadiego and Stefaan Vervoort (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- In 1992, artist David Lamelas installed Quand le ciel bas et lourd at the temporary exhibition America: Bride of the Sun-500 Years of Latin-America and the Low Countries at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), a show that explored the cultural, economic, and political exploitation of indigenous America by European forces, and its project of colonization and erasure. Lamelas' work remained a public installation in KMSKA's garden until March 2021 when it was dismantled as a result of the museum's years-long renovation. This article examines the work in the context in which it was exhibited and later destroyed as a lens to examine two aspects of contemporary art and history in Flanders. Firstly, it foregrounds the complex, transnational heritage that Lamelas' work presents and considers its implications upon the local, cultural scene in which it resided from the 1960s to 70s, in the 1990s and in the present. Secondly, the text frames Quand le ciel bas et lourd and America: Bride of the Sun as reverberating with the emergence of nationalism in Flanders and a global, postcolonial discourse in the art world. This article considers how aspects of Lamelas' work and its elusive meanings over space and time might challenge monolithic understandings of Flemish art.
- Keywords
- conceptual art, contemporary art, transnational heritage, installation art, exhibition history, Flanders, KB45
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01GST57576947D6VKR6XFXK62D
- MLA
- Mazadiego, Elize, and Stefaan Vervoort. “When the Sky Is Low and Heavy : David Lamelas and Transnational Heritage in Flanders.” ARTS, vol. 11, no. 1, 2022, pp. 17–24, doi:10.3390/arts11010024.
- APA
- Mazadiego, E., & Vervoort, S. (2022). When the sky Is low and heavy : David Lamelas and transnational heritage in Flanders. ARTS, 11(1), 17–24. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts11010024
- Chicago author-date
- Mazadiego, Elize, and Stefaan Vervoort. 2022. “When the Sky Is Low and Heavy : David Lamelas and Transnational Heritage in Flanders.” ARTS 11 (1): 17–24. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts11010024.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Mazadiego, Elize, and Stefaan Vervoort. 2022. “When the Sky Is Low and Heavy : David Lamelas and Transnational Heritage in Flanders.” ARTS 11 (1): 17–24. doi:10.3390/arts11010024.
- Vancouver
- 1.Mazadiego E, Vervoort S. When the sky Is low and heavy : David Lamelas and transnational heritage in Flanders. ARTS. 2022;11(1):17–24.
- IEEE
- [1]E. Mazadiego and S. Vervoort, “When the sky Is low and heavy : David Lamelas and transnational heritage in Flanders,” ARTS, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 17–24, 2022.
@article{01GST57576947D6VKR6XFXK62D,
abstract = {{In 1992, artist David Lamelas installed Quand le ciel bas et lourd at the temporary exhibition America: Bride of the Sun-500 Years of Latin-America and the Low Countries at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), a show that explored the cultural, economic, and political exploitation of indigenous America by European forces, and its project of colonization and erasure. Lamelas' work remained a public installation in KMSKA's garden until March 2021 when it was dismantled as a result of the museum's years-long renovation. This article examines the work in the context in which it was exhibited and later destroyed as a lens to examine two aspects of contemporary art and history in Flanders. Firstly, it foregrounds the complex, transnational heritage that Lamelas' work presents and considers its implications upon the local, cultural scene in which it resided from the 1960s to 70s, in the 1990s and in the present. Secondly, the text frames Quand le ciel bas et lourd and America: Bride of the Sun as reverberating with the emergence of nationalism in Flanders and a global, postcolonial discourse in the art world. This article considers how aspects of Lamelas' work and its elusive meanings over space and time might challenge monolithic understandings of Flemish art.}},
author = {{Mazadiego, Elize and Vervoort, Stefaan}},
issn = {{2076-0752}},
journal = {{ARTS}},
keywords = {{conceptual art,contemporary art,transnational heritage,installation art,exhibition history,Flanders,KB45}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{17--24}},
title = {{When the sky Is low and heavy : David Lamelas and transnational heritage in Flanders}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.3390/arts11010024}},
volume = {{11}},
year = {{2022}},
}
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