Art

At M HKA and De Cinema, we approach film as an autonomous art form and aim to break down the divide between narrative and experimental cinema as much as possible. We consider film a living artistic practice within contemporary visual culture and, within the ART section, explore film that moves between cinema and the visual arts.

We present a carefully curated selection of recent, restored, and underexposed works — both national and international — including artists’ films, essay films, experimental cinema, and video works, alongside feature films and documentaries about artistic creation: from painting and architecture to dance, performance, and music.

To strengthen the dialogue between cinema and the visual arts, this programme often connects with current exhibitions and activities at M HKA.

HIGHLIGHTS

In the context of Antwerp Art Weekend (May 14–17), a city-wide event for contemporary art in which institutions in and around Antwerp join forces to present and strengthen current artistic practices, De Cinema presents a film programme dedicated to visual arts, graphic design, and video art.

The programme includes the new VAi documentary UNLABELED. FIVE BELGIAN GRAPHIC DESIGN ARCHIVES, which starts from the question “Is what is not preserved lost forever?” and explores the urgency of safeguarding creative heritage, with a particular focus on graphic design in an era of digital impermanence.

In VIDEO/TAKE: BELGIUM – ARGENTINA 1976, presented in collaboration with the M HKA Collection, we show a programme of Belgian and Argentine video works from the 1970s, a key period in the early history of video art, presented for the first time on the big screen.

The programme also features the new documentary HAPPY SAD, which follows the final year of Antwerp artist Daan Gielis, who passed away far too young.