"Mappa mundi" at Villa Empain

23 June 2020 - 04 October 2020
Bruxelles

The Boghossian Foundation is hosting an exhibition in which the artists invite us on a voyage, and where cartographic representations interpret geography from political, poetic and utopian angles.

This exhibition entitled "Mappa Mundi" is being held at Villa Empain. This Ixelles property alone merits the trip, as it seduces visitors with its architectural approach that subtly blends Art Deco with the more refined Bauhaus style that prevailed at the time of its conception in 1930 by Michel Polak for the extremely wealthy Empain family. 

For centuries, geographical maps have been considered to be scientific, political and artistic objects, as Leonardo da Vinci demonstrated when he was the Borgia family's cartographer. 

In this enchanting setting, naturally the exhibition references ancient maps. But it's primarily the works of more than thirty contemporary artists from all over the world that will be displayed on the walls of the villa's rooms until 4 October 2020. 

The curator of the exhibition, Alfred Pâquement, is particularly keen to showcase Alighiero Boetti's "Mappa" (1979) which is embroidered by Afghan artisans, Mona Hatoum's mobile of floating continents and also the semantic and artistic games invented by Marcel Broodthaers in " The Conquest of Space: Atlas for the Use of Artists and the Military" (1975). 

As Alfred Pâquement poetically puts it: "It's razing our world to the ground, flattening it out and starting from scratch because it no longer runs smoothly, going around on its axis." 

Don't forget to book your visit to "Mappa Mundi".