INSIDE OUT for all curious non-adults of 6 years and up

Discover what makes you you and then zoom out again to your role in society and the footprint you leave behind in the educational exhibition INSIDE OUT.

On view 14.10.2023 - 03.11.202. Public opening and Bonnefanten Free Friday Party on 13 October 5 – 7 p.m.

Curators: Denise Castermans en Celien Govaerts.

From the dreamy inner world of a child to the big outside world of an adolescent. INSIDE OUT is an exhibition designed especially for all curious non-adults of 6 years and up. It challenges (young) visitors to discover how they have been formed by their environment as children, yet at the same time, have also left their own mark on the world. INSIDE OUT takes a stimulating approach to displaying art from the Bonnefanten collection and includes works by internationally renowned artists such as Tanja Ritterbex and Otobong Nkanga. Visitors feel as if they’re part of the works through playful and sensory exploration, giving art an added dimension. 

From the inside out

INSIDE OUT enables you to experience all of a child’s developmental stages. You are ‘literally’ turned inside out. From the time you are born, you are part of your environment. You and the space around you form one dreamlike whole. Opening the exhibition, the space-filling Ethereality installation by artist Morena Bamberger represents this inner world. Everything is geared towards stimulating the senses. 
 
This stage of wonder is followed by recognition. Your safe haven is your family, your friends, and your room. The older you get, the more acutely aware you are that the world around you is bigger than you think. You learn to see the world from a different perspective. It’s easy to compare yourself to others. This is when your self-image emerges; the image you have formed of yourself with the aid of your environment. Tanja Ritterbex’s painted self-portraits symbolise how people present themselves to the world, and the impact social media has on self-image. The idea for Selfie Series arose from the comments and likes triggered by the daily posting of a selfie on Facebook.

The development continues. Objects become increasingly important in life as children approach adolescence. Restored especially for this exhibition, Mathilde ter Heijne’s Life Inside Storage consists of several boxes with photographs of refugees, workers and other people who are not free to cross national borders. It stands in stark contrast to the desirable consumer goods that travel freely in boxes. The installation prompts (young) visitors to think about the impact mass consumption and international trade have on local communities, and above all, their own position in relation to others. When do you start to occupy someone else’s space?

Sensory-stimulating experience

In a playful and appealing manner, the colourful and challenging design by Studio La Meul (Rotterdam) brings together the exhibition’s comprehensive story and related themes with the weird and wonderful objects, installations, and paintings. The routing system from the inside to the outside guides visitors past and between works of art, as well as various hands-on activities that appeal to the creativity of people of all ages. At the end of the exhibition, visitors can document all their impressions with paper and scissors to create an ideal world of their own design. By feeling, smelling, experimenting, and talking about your space and someone else’s, (young) visitors can gain an understanding of themselves and the artwork on a deeper level.

Art as a footprint

The works in the exhibition represent the diverse character of the Bonnefanten collection: from old masters such as Philippe Coclers, to the Polling collection (handcrafted products from Maastricht’s pottery industry) and contemporary art by Tanja Ritterbex, Mathilde ter Heijne and Otobong Nkanga. A few works on loan from Joëlle Dubois and Morena Bamberger make INSIDE OUT complete.

This exhibition is made possible by:

Note for press: for more information and images, please contact Kris Németh at pressoffice@bonnefanten.nl  of +31 (0)6-27364802.

Leading Image: Morena Bamberger, Ethereality, 2019. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Manor Lux.