JUMANJI at Soft Focus Institute / Gent

JUMANJI

Audrey Cottin, Adam Cruces, Marijke De Roover, Eleanor Duffin, John Finneran, Riley Harmon, Sophie Jung, Jóhanna Kristbjörg Sigurðardóttir, Hannah Lees, Kris Lemsalu, Nancy Lupo, Ria Pacquée, Angelo Plessas, Mike Pratt, Mathias Prenen, Marthe Ramm Fortun, R&F F&R, Eric Sidner, Sibran Sampers, Hayley Aviva Silverman, Birde Vanheerswynghels, Tamara Van San

January 31 - April 10

www.softfocusinstitute.space

Sophie Jung

Kris Lemsalu

front: Marthe Ramm Fortun

Eric Sidner

 R &F F &R

 R &F F &R

 Sophie Jung

 Mathias Prenen

 Tamara Van San

 Hannah Lees

photography by mayz.be

From 2016 Tatjana Pieters will share its space at Nieuwevaart in Ghent with Soft Focus Institute, a Centre for Artistic Wellbeing of Uninitiated and Devoted Beholders (CAWUDB) that seeks to invigorate the relation between contemporary art and community. SFI will be an ambulant, pneumatic and flexible meeting place for open non-ego experiments and ideas, focusing on the interaction between doers, thinkers, participants and beholders. The centre takes shape in the moment and as such responds to the changing structures in society. SFI researches expectations and patterns in the art world and strives for an autonomy across existing concepts like profit and non-profit. Next to the opening exhibition at Nieuwevaart, SFI will set up projects during Antwerp Art Weekend, Arco Madrid (with Fernando Gutiérrez Huanchaco) and Independent Brussels.

On January 31 SFI was inaugurated with JUMANJI, a spiritually challenging and interactive exhibition. Its title refers to the eponymous film and is the name of a game ‘for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind’. The artists in JUMANJI open up unconventional ways of thinking about nature, mysticism and shamanism, exploring different aspects of the psychology and inherent conflicts between our rational and instinctive self. Each artist, in their own way, pushes contemporary conditions to extremes, envisioning potential realities that we may one day face. Out of a concern for social and personal health the exhibition questions the effects of magic, religion and spirituality on the sustainability of our society.

JUMANJI is an exhibition that evokes energy among people and tries to lead them to a general reflection on consciousness. Through the installation the beholder explores his or her own spirituality. The exhibition will be completed by a program of performances, film
presentations, public talks and a simple open kitchen.