মানব-প্রকৃতির স্বপ্ন / Dream of Human Nature
November 04, 2023 - November 24, 2023
At Brihatta Art Foundation, Belgium-based artist Koen Vanmechelen presents মানব-প্রকৃতির স্বপ্ন / Dream of Human Nature. The exhibition explores how humans live, how we can transcend ourselves, and the dreams we hold about our own nature. It emphasizes the delicate balance between dreaming and acknowledging reality, reminding us that ignoring our true selves can have serious consequences. The project centers on Vanmechelen’s Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (CCP), a global cross-breeding initiative using chickens as living metaphors for humanity, diversity, and identity.
For the first time, the exhibition introduces the Mechelse Aseel – CCP28, a new generation born from the crossing of the Mechelse Haughaesni – CCP27 with the indigenous Aseel from Bangladesh. This living symbol unites genetic heritage from 28 iconic breeds, representing resilience, unity, and sustainable coexistence. The chicken's diversity in Vanmechelen’s CCP is captured in "Open Secret"; a book made with the use of DNA-mapping technologies. The “Open Secret” artwork is an ode to our planet’s diversity and an archive of decades of crossing.
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During his first visit to Bangladesh in April 2023, Vanmechelen invited Buddhist monasteries to copy parts of the DNA book by hand in Rakhine and Bangla. The project aimed to bring attention to the importance of spirituality in our lives and the need to find a balance between progress and spirituality. Thus, a second DNA book formed the base of a collaborative art project with Brihatta Art Foundation connecting creativity, spirituality and community up in the Bangladesh hill tracts. For “Shagga”, Vanmechelen collaborated with scientists to sequence the genome of a White Eared-Pheasant, also called Shagga by the indigenous people of the Himalayas. This near-threatened bird species lives close to or above the snowline and can often be found around Buddhist monasteries. Because of its purity, it is seen as a symbol of spirituality.
Exhibition Notes
In
"Dream of Human Nature”, I unveil the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project's
diverse essence, symbolising our shared journey. It urges us to balance dreams
and reality, responsibly wielding the power of language. Through genetics and
collaborative art, the exhibition reflects our interconnectedness and calls for
sustainable coexistence. The exhibition's intricate tapestry celebrates
humanity's diversity, inspiring us to cherish our dreams with a mindful
perspective. In this convergence of art, science, and community, we find hope
for a future built on unity and understanding.
Koen
Vanmechelen
Artist
To dream is
part of human nature.
Whether we
dream in states of consciousness or unconsciousness, we construct and
deconstruct ourselves according to our deepest desires, wishes, and fantasies.
We consent to idealized ways of thinking, being, and seeing. Losing, gradually,
to find ourselves in altered ways of existing. We dream up a
world where diversity and inclusivity can coexist. Artist Koen Vanmechelen
touches on this with his CCP project, using the chicken as a metaphor for
humanity and social processes, advocating identity and diversity across
borders.
Diversity
is an ongoing conversation. This exhibition gives us space to contemplate the
subject momentarily, with a slight pause. Koen has developed a unique process
where different communities are able to engage through art, science, and
spirituality, in line with the natural flow of life, as Mother Nature
intended. A new language is created, where one feels, rather than sees,
beauty as a form of art. A new composition created in harmony with our
surroundings, in which the 28th generation of the Mechelse Aseel is used as a
metaphoric expression to nurture his dream of a diverse world.
The dream,
which 20 years ago transported him to a monastery in the Himalayan region in
search of the white eared pheasant, now brings him to Bangladesh on a quest to
seek the familiar in an unfamiliar setting. Similar to the journey of a stream
that flows from the Himalayas to form rivers which merge into oceans, the
spirit of the Mechelse Aseel wanders all the way from Belgium to the artisanal
grounds of Rajshahi, to sacred lands in the Chittagong hill tracts.
Brihatta
Art Foundation and Koen Venmechelen present the process of creation in a unique
way to the audience in Bangladesh; a process in which the convergence of art
and science garners responses of empathy, unity, and deep contemplation.
Bishwajit
Goswami
Curator