More than an exhibition, SKIN is a laboratory and an experimental place to explore together. This exhibition is part of ELEMENTS 2021.

As part of the joint venture ELEMENTS, visitors to the Bonnefanten can now see SKIN, the museum’s first educational exhibition especially for children aged 8 to 12. SKIN invites visitors (young and old) to explore, experience and philosophise. After all, art is not only perceived through the eyes. By feeling, touching, smelling and looking, you learn to gain a deep understanding of yourself and of the artwork.

With work by Célio Braga, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Jalila Essaïdi, Margi Geerlinks, Bart Hess, Elke Lutgerink, Carla van de Puttelaar, Renee Verhoeven and Eline Willemarck, alongside artworks from the Bonnefanten collection by Marlene Dumas, Bruce Nauman, L.A. Raeven, Ferdi Tajiri and Luc Tuymans.

The skin

Being human is being emotional, feeling things. Our sense of touch is intrinsically emotional. Touch connects us. Without that connection, we lose something very essential. The exhibition does not so much focus on the physical aspects of the skin, but questions the importance and experience of our skin in a philosophical sense. (Young) visitors explore the value we attach to skin colour and learn how wonderful our skin and body are.

Our skin is one big sense. Through your skin you can feel the warm breeze on a summer evening, the annoying itching of an insect bite and the soothing feeling of a friend's hand on your shoulder. Blushes on your cheeks, goosebumps or drops of sweat betray how you feel. Your skin is an antenna that can transmit and receive. She envelops you like a jacket that protects you and keeps you together. Your skin tells about your age, your health and where your ancestors came from. It protects you, but it is also vulnerable and carries traces of the story of your life such as scars and birthmarks.

Rasa

SKIN is a crossover between the Bonnefanten collection and the exhibition of the same name by Rasa. The exhibition shows works by contemporary artists who pay particular attention to the skin. The Belgian organization Rasa develops and presents travelling exhibitions of contemporary art for an audience of children and youngsters.

The Bonnefanten can be visited free of charge up to and including the age of 18.

ELEMENTS

This exhibition is part of the ELEMENTS partnership in which contemporary art and cultural institutions in Dutch Limburg, Belgian Limburg and Liège program around an ‘element’ associated with the region.

At home

Would you like to get to know more about the exhibition? Download the exhibition booklet and keep on reading!