After his Familiestraat project Thomas Verstraeten returned to the Seefhoek with an ode to this extremely diverse district in the northern part of Antwerp.
A project in collaboration with Toneelhuis.
For his second exhibition at the gallery, Thomas Verstraeten is showing a new installation constructed from the pieces he created for his Seefhoek Series. A new approach, a different view, a totally immersive experience.
In September 2023, together with about five hundred local residents, Verstraeten created the seven-part location project Seefhoek Series, an ode to a hyper-diverse area in the north of Antwerp called the Seefhoek. The project was an attempt to penetrate the soul of a city district. It was a meditation on a resilient but abandoned neighbourhood.
In collaboration with Fred & Ferry Gallery, Verstraeten is creating an exhibition on Seefhoek Series in November 2024. Using videos, photographic material, scale models and installations, he is taking a fresh look at Seefhoek Series and trying to uncover new layers of meaning. The seven performances, which were originally scattered in different locations throughout the neighbourhood and at different times, now come together in the exhibition space and enter into a real dialogue with each other.
In the exhibition, through magnifications of reality, Verstraeten shows us the undeniable complexity of life in the city. Equally, he makes us witness to both the fragility and the vitality that make up the city.
