https://tombogaert.org Tom Bogaert Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:47:09 +0000 https://tombogaert.org en https://tombogaert.org/ABOUT-1 Thu, 02 Nov 2023 14:10:48 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/ABOUT-1 ABOUT At the age of 38, Tom Bogaert gave up his legal career for the UN and Amnesty International to settle in New York as an artist. He had a first solo exhibition in 2008 at ‘Jack the Pelican Presents’ gallery in New York City, where he presented This is Rwanda, a project examining responses to genocide that extend beyond the rational frameworks of official state and multilateral institutions. Shortly after his New York debut, Bogaert relocated to Amman, Jordan, where he began developing a body of work informed by his experiences as a foreigner living and working in the Arab world. MENA (Middle East North Africa) brings together artworks produced before, during, and after the Arab Spring—created in Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria between 2010 and 2018. In 2013, the paths of Haitian artist Michel Lafleur and Tom Bogaert crossed for the first time at the Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince. They have been friends and collaborators ever since. Lafleur &amp; Bogaert gained international recognition for their acclaimed projects with Atis Rezistans / Ghetto Biennale at Documenta 15 in 2022, receiving enthusiastic praise from both international and local media. In 2023, their work contributed to Atis Rezistans / Ghetto Biennale being awarded Exhibition of the Year by the International Association of Art Critics in Germany. At the invitation of Sammy Baloji, an award-winning international artist central to the contemporary art scene of the Democratic Republic of Congo,&nbsp;Lafleur &amp; Bogaert participated in the 2024 edition of the Biennale of Lubumbashi.&nbsp;Lafleur &amp; Bogaert received a project subsidy from the Flemish government in Belgium for both 2025 and 2026. In addition, they have been named 2025 Artistic Research Initiative (ARI) Fellows, supported by the Mellon Foundation at Duke University in the United States.In 2025, alongside their debut U.S. solo exhibition at Frosch &amp; Co Gallery in New York City—where it received a glowing review in The Brooklyn Rail—highlights include their participation in the International Triennale of Textile in Łódź, Poland; Toxic Lands, Living Narratives at Galerie Imane Farès in Paris; and presentations of their J’aime RD Congo project in Kolwezi and Mbuji-Mayi, both in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.In February–March 2026, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert participate in the 6th edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India. In May 2026, they will present a solo exhibition at the White Cube of the Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), Lusanga, DR Congo. Curriculum Vitae https://tombogaert.org/PRESS Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:07:21 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/PRESS PRESS2025 The Brooklyn Rail: Lafleur &amp; Bogaert in New York ︎Elizabeth Johnson, artist &amp; art writer“Practical, improvisational, and portable Lafleur &amp; Bogaert in New York is light in temperament and heavy with history.Despite limited in-person meetings due to the logistical problems caused by Haiti’s chronic political unrest, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert in New York introduces Lafleur, who descends from enslaved ancestors from the Congo, and Bogaert, a Belgian national who worked as an immigration and refugee lawyer, taking turns as leader, opening psychological space where business sense intersects rich, previously untapped content.” 2025Exhibition Essay: Lafleur &amp; Bogaert in New York ︎Guillermina De FerrariHalls-Bascom Professor of Caribbean Literatures and Visual CulturesUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison “The two artists would likely never have met without The Ghetto Biennale, a creative institution launched in 2009 that pairs international artists with artists from the Grand Rue neighborhood, gathered in a group known as Atis Rezistans (resistance artists). Working together since 2013, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert is the most enduring collaboration to emerge from that event.Lafleur &amp; Bogaert’s art responds directly to the realities on the ground, often incorporating found objects and materials. Driven by a concern for justice, their artistic practice engages with the precarity of the present and the ills of history. They have developed their own artistic language, exploring these themes with resourcefulness and humor. Their collaboration, polyphonic and dynamic, embodies a playful cultural syncretism that obeys no preconceived rules.This show at Frosch &amp; Co, their first solo exhibition in the US, includes original pieces as well as ever-evolving artworks that they began elsewhere.” 2025Artstigator: Lafleur &amp; Bogaert in New York ︎Liam Otero, Art Critic &amp; New York Editor Whitehotmagazine “Artist-friends are a hallmark of Contemporary Art, but with the Chapman Brothers no longer together and Gilbert &amp; George getting up there in age, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert are the next big thing for the fruitful artist duo collaboration today!They went all out with their show, which was decked out in ostentatious displays of colorfully striped polypropylene woven shopping bags with the text “J’ 🖤 New York” over them along with similar messages expressing love for the Congolese philosopher V.Y. Mudimbe and the Lubumbashi Biennale.”2025The Art Girl: Fresh On The Walls in New York ︎ Thalia Sisney, the art girl“What happens when a Haitian portrait painter and a former Belgian human rights lawyer join forces? The result is the witty, powerful, and deeply collaborative work of Lafleur &amp; Bogaert.Their cross-Atlantic collaboration, born from Port-au-Prince’s Ghetto Biennale, embodies resilience and imagination. It’s a dialogue where Lafleur’s vibrant sign-painting roots and Bogaert’s legal background merge, proving that “unity is submarine.” 2025Press Release Galerie Imane Farès: Toxic Lands, Living Narratives ︎ Imane Farès and Sammy Baloji“The exhibition Toxic Lands, Living Narratives builds on the research initiated during recent editions of the Lubumbashi Biennale, organized by the Picha Association in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Conceived in collaboration with artist Sammy Baloji, it brings together artists whose works question colonial legacies and their lasting impacts on bodies, territories, and imaginaries.” 2025Communiqué de Presse Galerie Imane Farès: Toxic Lands, Living Narratives ︎Imane Farès et Sammy Baloji“L’exposition Toxic Lands, Living Narratives (Terres toxiques, récits vivants) prolonge les recherches engagées lors des dernières éditions de la Biennale de Lubumbashi, organisée par l’association Picha en République démocratique du Congo. Conçue en collaboration avec l’artiste Sammy Baloji, elle réunit des artistes dont les oeuvres interrogent les héritages coloniaux et leurs répercussions durables sur les corps, les territoires et les imaginaires.” 2025 e-flux Agenda: 18th International Triennial of Textile ︎ Marta Kowalewska and Bukola Oyebode-Westerhuis, curators“From its very beginnings, the Łódź Triennial has acted as a sensitive “seismograph” of transformations—in both art and the wider world. Since the 1970s, it has provided a platform for the integration of artists from around the globe. Today, in an era of renewed political and social tensions, textile reaffirms its role as a medium that powerfully tells stories of communities, memory, migration, women’s roles, identity, and the search for new orders.The fabric of textile—at once intimate and collective—proves to be an ideal language for engaging with global issues. As the works submitted to this edition demonstrate, deconstruction and reconstruction are not only artistic processes but also metaphors of today’s world: from redefining the idea of home through the experience of migration, to women’s emancipation and the building of inclusive communities.” 2025Actualité CD: Michel Lafleur &amp; Tom Bogaert—An Unlikely Haitian-Belgian Duo Globalizes Love for Congo Through Contemporary Art ︎Elisha Iragi, journalist “From the bustling streets of Lubumbashi to stages in New York, Belgium and Poland, the project “I Love the DRC” by visual artists Michel Lafleur (Haiti) and Tom Bogaert (Belgium) explores what loving the Democratic Republic of Congo really means. Mixing patriotism with raw, unfiltered expression, their initiative has grown from a local idea into a fixture on the global contemporary art scene. We sat down with one of the artists to uncover what drives this ever-surprising creation.” 2025 Lafleur &amp; Bogaert: Le Grand Tour&nbsp;︎ Jenny Munyongamayi, curator and project manager&nbsp; “In the current socio-political and geopolitical climate, the slogan “J’aime RD Congo” takes on a darker, more heavily charged, and nationalistic tone. Lafleur &amp; Bogaert plan to transform their project into a traveling artistic tour across the country — from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa, from east to west — beginning in July 2025, with a series of artistic interventions along the way.” 2025 Afrikadaa magazine: Sun Ra Ra&nbsp;︎ Pascale Obolo,&nbsp;film director and artist “On his first visit to the Ghetto Biennale in Haiti, Tom Bogaert heard something familiar in the rara marching music that was being played in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Already doing work on the interplanetary jazz legend Sun Ra’s visit to Egypt in the early 1970s, Bogaert read in the dog-eared pages of an old copy of the Lonely Planet that Sun Ra was also rumoured to have visited Haiti, perhaps ten years earlier, during his so-called ‘lost years.’It was even said that Sun Ra might have composed his masterpiece ‘Rocket Number Nine’ in Port-au-Prince. What Bogaert heard in the streets made him believe this could be true and, even more so, he found out that ‘Rocket Number Nine’ has its roots in the traditional rara song ‘Fize Nimewo Nèf’.” 2025De Morgen: Top Cultural Events ︎Danny Ilegems, journalist“For those seeking innovative and timeless art, the Verbeke Foundation in Stekene is a must-visit. Currently hosting the art collective (Michel) Lafleur &amp; (Tom) Bogaert, the foundation features their acclaimed installations that received significant attention at the Documenta in Kassel, the Lubumbashi Biennale, and the Watou Arts Festival.” 2025De Standaard: The Best Exhibitions Right Now ︎Geert Van der Speeten, journalist“The Haitian-Belgian artist duo Lafleur &amp; Bogaert has recently returned from the Lubumbashi Biennale. They are currently showcasing a major presentation at the Verbeke Foundation, featuring their striking banners that draw inspiration from Flemish Primitives, Vodou, and Catholicism.” 2024De Standaard: From Haitian Ghetto to Art Space in Belgium ︎Ines Minten, journalist“The Haitian-Belgian artist duo, Michel Lafleur and Tom Bogaert, create hybrid artworks by weaving together diverse materials and inspirations they encounter along their journey. Their pieces incorporate car parts and portable street pharmacies from Haiti, discarded religious banners from Flanders and the Netherlands, an old construction shack they sourced in Kassel, and vibrant plastic bags bought in the streets of Lubumbashi. Each item they collect is infused with stories, reflecting a similar process of assembly. At first glance, the artwork is striking due to its vivid colors, but it is the rich narratives beneath the surface that truly resonate and captivate the viewer. ”2024GLEAN magazine: Lubumbashi Biennale ︎Elisha Iragi, journalistGuest Editor Collectif Picha. Lafleur &amp; Bogaert, J’aime RD Congo, 2024, installation view Lubumbashi Biennale ‘Vers un antidote à la Toxicité’, 400 x 250 cm, hand-set letters on shopping bags sewn together with copper thread. 2024 Verbeke Foundation: Lafleur &amp; Bogaert press kit&nbsp;︎ Marie Verboven, curator “Currently, at the invitation of Sammy Baloji, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert are participating in the 8th edition of the Lubumbashi Biennale in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their Retrospective Exhibition at the Verbeke Foundation in Belgium features selected collaborative works spanning from 2013 to the present, as well as a special presentation of their recent ‘J’aime RD Congo’ project, created for the Biennale de Lubumbashi.” 2024 Verbeke Foundation: Lafleur &amp; Bogaert persmap&nbsp;︎ Marie Verboven, curator “Op uitnodiging van Sammy Baloji nemen Lafleur &amp; Bogaert momenteel deel aan de 8ste editie van de Biënnale van Lubumbashi in de Democratische Republiek Congo. Tijdens hun overzichtstentoonstelling bij de Verbeke Foundation tonen ze naast een selectie van hun gezamenlijke werk sinds 2013 ook een aantal ‘J’aime RD Congo’ winkeltassen die ze vorige maand in Lubumbashi maakten.” 2024 Diptyk Magazine:&nbsp;Biennale de Lubumbashi&nbsp;︎ Elisha Iragi, journalist Biennale de Lubumbashi 2024 : résilience perpétuelle, créativité constante et quête d’identités. “Les artistes congolais, confrontés au manque de matériel, transforment la récupération en méthode créative assumée et innovante, comme l’ont illustré Tom Bogaert (Belgique) et Michel Lafleur (Haïti) dans le projet « J’aime… »&nbsp;où ils ont utilisé des emballages plastiques pour répercuter les préférences de la population rencontrée dans la rue. Le résultat collaboratif, avec la modéliste Nilla Banguna, est une impressionnante toile murale traduisant les aspirations sociales et artistiques.” 2024 Biennale de Lubumbashi: Lafleur &amp; Bogaert ︎&nbsp; Brigitte Mbaz, curator “Michel Lafleur and Tom Bogaert take the original ‘J’aime RD Congo’ bags and literately flip them inside out, hand-painting new text to transform them in the unofficial ‘tote bag’ of the Lubumbashi Biennial. One side features slogans collected from street interviews, while the other side displays ‘Biennale Lubumbashi’. The 2024 edition of the Lubumbashi Biennial draws inspiration from the philosophical insights of Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, honouring this profound African thinker. In tribute, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert feature 'Mudimbe' on the first prototypes of the Lubumbashi Biennial Tote Bag.” 2024 Steirischer Herbst:&nbsp;Johann, Mur, Enns, Drava, and Sann&nbsp;︎ Pieternel Vermoortel, curator “Johann, Mur, Enns, Drava, and Sann is a proposal for a new site-specific installation on Hauptplatz, conceived for the monumental 19th-century fountain erected in honor of Archduke Johann. It depicts the archduke towering above four female allegorical figures representing the Mur, Enns, Drava, and Savinja rivers, which traverse Styria's historical boundaries. Echoing the recent global discussions on monuments and the display of public memory, Bogaert imagines working with collapsed inflatable objects for this intervention. He would call upon the population of Styria and beyond to donate inflatables abandoned in garden sheds, cellars, and attics.” 2024 De Standaard: De hoogtepunten van Watou&nbsp;︎ Ines Minten, cultuurjournalist Propaganda voor de kunst “Het heeft een haar gescheeld of er hingen kunstwerken met grote gaten erin in Watou. Het Haïtiaans-Belgische kunstenaarsduo Lafleur &amp; Bogaert werkt op afstand samen. Vorig jaar bezochten ze samen het festivaldorp en haalden inspiratie uit de banieren in de kerk. Ze kopieerden de afmetingen en gingen er hun gang mee. Tom Bogaert creëerde banieren in zijn atelier in Boedapest, Michel Lafleur schilderde portretten in Haïti. In Watou zouden ze samenkomen. Maar opeens lag alle luchtverkeer van en naar Haïti stil. Pas op het laatste nippertje raakte Lafleur met zijn werken in ons land. In de banieren zien de kunstenaars bruggen tussen hun culturen: in het katholicisme en in vodou hebben vaandels een plek. Het duo ontdoet ze van hun religieuze betekenis en maakt er zelfportretten van. “De oude banieren zijn propaganda voor een godsdienst, wij maken propaganda voor onszelf”, zegt Bogaert. In één van de portretten poseert Lafleur als kanunnik Van der Paele in het schilderij van Van Eyck. “Maria van Daalen verwerkt die figuur ook in haar gedicht bij het werk. Ik ben nogal rationeel, dus ik vermoed dat we het er ooit over hebben gehad, maar niemand kan het zich herinneren.” “Het mysterie moet je niet uitleggen”, besluit Lafleur.” 2024 De Lage Landen: Een innerlijk landschap&nbsp;︎&nbsp; Eric Braecke, kunstjournalist “Het is een wonderlijk gebruik, net als de moeilijk te doorgronden voodoorituelen die een rol spelen in het Banyè-project van Tom Bogaert en Michel Lafleur (Banyè is creools voor banier). Het Belgisch-Haïtiaanse kunstenaarsduo laat religieuze tradities uit deze contreien, zoals de banieren die bij processies worden gedragen, samenvloeien met de gebruiken van de sosyetes-congregaties in Haïti. Maria van Daalen, die ingewijd is in de Haïtiaanse voodoo, schreef er een lang gedicht bij.” 2024 Catalogus Kunstenfestival Watou: Lafleur &amp; Bogaert’s Banyè&nbsp;︎ James Putnam, curator beeldende kunst “Zomer 2023. Tijdens hun verblijf in Watou bezoeken Michel Lafleur en Tom Bogaert de Sint-Bavokerk. De historisch-religieuze vaandels trekken er hun aandacht, en meteen rijpt het idee om twee historische vaandels als uitgangspunt te nemen voor hun project. Ze transformeren de bestaande religieuze banieren tot hedendaagse Lafleur &amp; Bogaert zelfportretten, in de stijl van de Haïtiaanse 'Drapo Vodou' textielkunst. Ze verwerken in de nieuwe textielstukken olieverf op doek en brengen, geheel in de lijn van de Lafleur &amp; Bogaert-identiteit autobiografische tekstelementen aan op de Banyè. De titel verwijst naar de Haïtiaans-Creoolse spelling van het Franse Bannière&nbsp;[...]&nbsp;Voor Banyè experimenteren Lafleur &amp; Bogaert verder met de ‘j’aime RDC’ winkeltassen waar ze bij hun laatste bezoek aan Lubumbashi verliefd op werden. Ze gebruiken de veelkleurige shoppingbags als visuele identiteit en rode draad voor hun 2024 projecten.” 2024 Poëziekrant: In margine&nbsp;︎ Maria van Daalen, dichter / auteur “Toen ik gevraagd werd om een gedicht te schrijven bij het werk van het kunstenaarsduo Lafleur &amp; Bogaert, en ik met toenemende ontroering hun werken bekeek, onder meer die voor documenta fifteen, met de Atis Rezistans, het ‘Anba Dlo’-project voor de (helaas geannuleerde) Ghetto Biennale van dit jaar, en nu hun prachtige ‘Banyè’-project voor Kunstenfestival Watou 2024, voelde ik direct een grote verwantschap.” 2024 VRT: Watou Kunstenfestival 2024&nbsp;︎ Kristien Bonneure, journalist cultuur “Ook het Haïtiaans-Belgische duo Lafleur en Bogaert hangt de vlag uit in Watou. Met banieren uit klassieke materialen, maar ook gestikt van het plastic-achtige weefsel van boodschappentassen uit Congo. De inspiratie kwam van de kerkvaandels van Watou, geïnjecteerd met Afrikaanse en voodoo-traditie.” 2023 International Association of Art Critics AICA: Exhibition of the Year Award Press Release&nbsp;︎ Marie Luise Syring, Head of the German section of AICA “The Atis Rezistans – Ghetto Biennale exhibition at documenta fifteen, curated by Eugène André and Leah Gordon, was awarded for its fearlessness, its elaborate handling of the material, for its access to an artistically thought-out form that had almost been lost sight of in the context of the overall large-scale event fragmented by profound controversies - including the anti-Semitism debate. The church space as an exhibition space has been fully recognised in its potential; complex reflections on spirituality, exoticism, otherness and processing of violence were interwoven in a multi-layered way.” 2023 The Guardian:&nbsp;Dead Haitians have no problem travelling to Australia – but living ones do&nbsp;︎ Sian Cain, deputy culture editor “Two artists taking part in Australia’s Rising festival have been stopped from boarding a plane to Melbourne via London, in a case that highlights how hard it is for Haitians to travel [...] Tom Bogaert, a Belgian artist and frequent collaborator with Atis Rezistans who was in Melbourne at the time, shared his sadness with Rising. “I am writing this post on [Michel’s] behalf as well. We cannot help but view this situation as an absolute low point,” he wrote in an email, describing the situation as absurd and injust.” 2023global dis:connect: St. kunigundis meets haitian voodoo&nbsp;︎ Peter Seeland, art historian“Famasi Mobil Kongolè thus refers to the historical connection of modern Haiti to the Congo but also to the disconnection through the diaspora. Objects of health are installed here as in a shrine around the Virgin Mary. Do they represent a plea for relief from the current misery in Haiti and the Congo caused by the colonialism? However, the Haitian reality is here juxtaposed with a Christian-European context. Where otherwise Catholics present petitions, here it is followers of Haitian voodoo who erect a shrine.” 2023 Third Text: Crisis and Collectives Shaping Art Events&nbsp;︎ Julie Ren, Charlotte Matter, Rosa Sancarlo &amp; Virginia Marano, academic researchers “For documenta fifteen, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert produced their mud cakes with soil from a clay pit near Kassel, questioning what gets lost in translation, but also how meanings and values shift (in cultural, religious, nutritional, and monetary terms) when local practices are dislocated. In this way, the work of this collective complicates the reading of a practice in terms of what is perceived as a response to a crisis vs what is valued or recognised as local knowledge and practice.” 2023 Le Bulletin #14: Westalgie, Dauergloss, and Flaggenwerfer at IKOB ︎ Edited by Henrike Naumann, Merle Vorwald, Tom Bogaert, and Frank-Thorsten Moll “In retrospect, giving Henrike Naumann carte blanche for the whole museum was the luckiest of all possible coincidences, which only turned out to be so through Henrike’s far-sighted invitations to Tom Bogaert and Merle Vorwald. A certain amount of luck is probably part of it, because otherwise everything would have turned out differently. In no way so harmonious, so intertwining, so mutually reinforcing and underlining the actual thesis of each position. Westalgie meets Dauergloss meets flag thrower — and the IKOB glows to it!” 2023 Hart Magazine: ‘Vendelzwaaier – Flaggenwerfer’ at IKOB Museum of Contemporary Art ︎ Christine Vuegen, journalist “De Belg Tom Bogaert (1966) durft het aan om zijn verleden als vendelzwaaier openbaar te maken, toen hij met de Vlaamse vlag stond te zwaaien. Het is zijn eerste autobiografisch werk. Vorig jaar oogden zijn bijdrage in Watou en ook zijn samenwerking met de Haïtiaan Michel Lafleur in documenta 15 in Kassel nogal rommelig. Nu komt hij aanzetten met de puntgave installatie Vendelzwaaier – Flaggenwerfer: een signalisatiepop, zo’n pop die met een rood vlagje zwaait bij wegenwerken, en op de met zilveren nooddekens beklede muren zijn subtiel het geel en zwart van de Vlaamse vlag aangebracht. Verderop kan je door herinneringsboeken bladeren over zijn jeugd als lid van een vereniging vendelzwaaiers in Brugge. Het blijkt meer een ballet, met allerhande vlaggen. Maar toch: vendelzwaaien staat niet los van ultrarechts nationalisme. Bogaert stelt de vraag of jongeren door dergelijke activiteiten worden beïnvloed, zonder het te beseffen en zonder de politieke draagwijdte te kennen. Alles bij elkaar trakteren de drie kunstenaars in IKOB ons fijntjes op een scherpe ondervraging van extreemrechts. Niet het meest populaire thema in de kunstwereld, maar erg actueel en hoognodig.” 2023 Die Referentin: ‘Organ’ at the Festival der Regionen Arts Festival ︎ Georg Wilbertz, journalist “At first glance, Tom Bogaert takes a playful approach in his contribution ‘Organ/Orgel in the parish church of Kefermarkt. Due to its famous altar and Adalbert Stifter's intensive involvement with it, the church is part of the canon of Upper Austrian high culture. Bogaert contrasts the traditional aura of the space with a dazzling sculpture made of plastic. Flashy, colourful inflatable objects such as swimming bands, air mattresses, etc. are collected and piled up in a flabbystate to form a sculptural installation. Not only through their materiality and appearance, but also through the absurd aesthetic contrast, the artist succeeds in playfully condensing fractures and paradoxes of our present into a theatrical image.” 2023 OÖNachrichten: ‘Organ’ at the Festival der Regionen Arts Festival ︎ Herbert Schorn, journalist&nbsp; "Tom Bogaert has left his mark in the parish church. &nbsp;The Belgian artist&nbsp;clad&nbsp;the column under the organ with all kinds of inflatable toys, from a golden unicorn to a rubber dinghy.&nbsp;&nbsp;It looks as if a colourful plastic massa is crawling towards the organ.&nbsp;&nbsp;The installation enters into dialogue with the famous carved altar: "The space and contemporary art rub against each other," says Bogaert. "This can create wounds or something entirely new." 2022 Merkur - Deutsche Zeitschrift für europäisches Denken: Film and video at documenta fifteen&nbsp;︎ Cristina Nord,&nbsp;head of the Berlinale Forum “The interactions of hopes, projections, visions of a better future, evocations of the past and disappointments that unfold in the entertaining ten minutes of ‘pepsi, cola, water?’ can be detached from Bogaert's film and extended to the larger context of this year's documenta: just as Sun Ra had high hopes for Egypt, documenta fifteen starts with the hypothesis that a way out of the crisis-ridden present can be found as soon as one looks southwards.” 2022 Frieze: Editors’ Picks: Six Standout Projects from Documenta 15&nbsp;︎ Andrew Durbin, editor-in-chief “At the St. Kunigundis Catholic Church in Bettenhausen, Atis Rezistans has staged an exhibition that is, at turns, haunting and ambitious in its artistic and historical scope&nbsp;[...] Toward the entrance of the church, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert – an artist duo from Haiti and Belgium, respectively – have installed ‘mobile pharmacies’: flashing, conical sculptures covered in pills on an altar in a nook in the church.” 2022springerin: Troping a Dope Zum Beitrag von Atis Rezistans | Ghetto Biennale auf der documenta fifteen&nbsp;︎ Katharina Hausladen, editor-in-chief of Text zur Kunst magazine “Während die mit Kreppband überwiegend an den Außenkonturen überklebten und daher buchstäblich ge-reframeten Heiligenfiguren aufgrund der negativ-wiederholenden Geste des „Übermalens“ bei gleichzeitiger Beibehaltung der Eigenständigkeit beider Darstellungen beeindruckten, waren Lafleurs &amp; Bogaerts „mobile Apotheken“, die für viele Haitianer*innen die Hauptbezugsquelle für Schmerzmittel, Antibiotika, Kondome, Abtreibungspillen und Hustensäfte sind, an Magie qua Eigenleben kaum zu überbietende Kleinroboter/Wundertüten. Solch sinnliche und doch zwangsläufig komplexe Kreolisierungen kultureller Praktiken, wie sie der kürzlich verstorbene Publizist und Essayist Édouard Glissant im Sinn hatte, boten eine willkommene Alternative zu den bisweilen irritierend neoliberalen DIY-, Mitmach- und Abstimmungsdisplays dieser documenta. Gegenüber diesen eröffneten jene in der Tat eine surreale Schicht.” 2022 ArtAsiaPacific: Hightlights from documenta fifteen&nbsp;︎ Frances Arnold, journalist “Striking a spiritual synergy is Haitian collective Atis Rezistans inside St. Kunigundis Roman Catholic Church. Showcasing the group’s Ghetto Biennale, which was established in 2009 and celebrates artists working in the Grand Rue neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, the exhibition drew connections between vodou practices and its church setting&nbsp;[...] Elsewhere, the Haitian and Belgian duo Michel Lafleur and Tom Bogaert’s sculptural columns Famasi Mobil Kongolè (2017), adorned with blister packs of medication, fairy lights, and tinsel, recall the country’s mobile pharmacies and appear as shrines.” 2022 Feinschwarz: Documenta fifteen – ein kritischer harvest&nbsp;︎ Viera Pirker, Professor for Religious Education at Goethe University Frankfurt. “Ein Liebling der documenta fifteen ist die überraschende Präsentation von Atis Rezistans in der nicht profanierten, aber auch nicht genutzten Kirche St. Kunigundis im Kasseler Osten [...] Im Vorraum treffen sich an verschiedenen Altären Heiliges und Profanes, insbesondere in der Pillen-Kapelle von Lafleur &amp; Bogaert, die der Madonna haitianische Apotheken beigesellt haben und den Blick wenig subtil, doch krachend klug auf die Frage nach Heil, Heilung, Hoffnung und Möglichkeit lenkt.” 2022 De Standaard: Als kunstenaar lachen we om elkaars gewoontes&nbsp;︎ Geert Van der Speeten, journalist “Met zijn minicollectief Lafleur &amp; Bogaert nam hij de zijkapel voor zijn rekening. In het kitschdecor van ex-voto’s, kaarsen en nepbloemen installeerden ze een ‘mobiele apotheek’ waarmee venters in Haïti op straat lopen. Hoe Bogaert zijn werk het liefst ter plaatse bedenkt, demonstreerde hij vorig jaar in Villa Les Zéphyrs in Middelkerke. Hij puzzelde er een fontein bijeen met gerecycleerde opblaasspullen uit plastic. In Kassel pimpte hij een oude werfkeet tot Bonbon tè majik. Er worden ‘modderkoekjes’ in gebakken, het type vullende voeding dat Haïtiaanse moeders uit pure armoede aan hun kinderen uitdelen. In Kassel worden de koeken onderdeel van een performance op een kleurrijke plek.” 2022 Klara: Documenta in Kassel: De top 10 van Chantal Pattyn&nbsp;︎ Chantal Pattyn, journalist “Een unieke plek is de St-Kunigundiskerk. Daar landde dit collectief uit Port-au-Prince in Haïti. Je treft er in de kapel en in de tuin werk van Michel Lafleur en Tom Bogaert. Tom is één van de twee Belgen (naast Reinaart Vanhoe van OOK_) op deze Documenta.” 2022 Artnet: Documenta 15’s Focus on Populist Art Opens the Door to Art Worlds You Don’t Otherwise See—and May Not Always Want to&nbsp;︎ Ben Davis, National Art Critic “The cadre of artists associated with Haiti’s Atis Rezistans (Resistance Artists), at the church of St. Kunigundis, beautifully commanded that space [...] Lafleur and Bogaert’s kinetic sculptures felt both like celebrations of everyday creativity and otherworldly.” 2022 Tokyo Art Beat: Documenta 15 report&nbsp;︎ Yuki Saiki, Curator Goldsmiths College トム・ボガート＆ミシェル・ラフルール（Tom Bogaert &amp; Michel Lafleur）の《Famasi Mobil》シリーズは、ハイチの生活に根差したユニークな彫刻作品だ。ギリシア神話に登場する名医・アスクレピオスの持物から着想を得たという彫刻は、全面を錠剤で覆われている。ハイチでは、鎮痛剤や抗生物質、コンドームからバイアグラの模造品まで販売する移動型薬局が多くの人にとっての医薬品の供給源だという。 2022 Mister Motley Magazine: Een gemeenschap van parels – over twee Kasselse kerken ︎ Laure van den Hout, Directeur/hoofredacteur Mister Motley “Maria hilft immer. Ook de ex voto’s lees ik als een poging van het individu om zich te verbinden met iets groters. Gezien, gehoord en gesteund te willen worden. Want zijn dat niet dé aspecten van hulp? En wat zijn hedendaagse manieren om dit soort verlichting te krijgen? Daarover zet Famasi Mobil Kongolè, door het samenspel van reeds in het kerkinterieur aanwezige elementen, de connotatie van een kerk en de door het kunstenaarsduo Lafleur &amp; Bogaert toegevoegde pillen en overige rekwisieten, tot nadenken aan.” 2022 Revista 22: documenta 15 - un curatoriat al duratei Jam Karet&nbsp;︎ Raluca Oancea, lecturer University of Arts, Bucharest “În ciuda unei prime impresii leisure-kitch, instalația duoului artistic din Haiti și Belgia, Michel Lafleur și Tom Bogaert Famasi Mobil Kongolè (2017), ce adună lumânări fake de plastic, beteală strălucitoare, leduri roz și trei coloane mișcătoare acoperite cu blistere de pastile - antibiotice, prezervative, viagra de lux sau banale analgezice -, se dovedește a fi un altar închinat farmaciilor rurale mobile ce constituie pentru populația din Haiti singura sursă medicală.” 2022 Kunstverein Arnsberg: What if not the World?&nbsp;︎ Pauline Doutreluingne, independent curator and writer “Wir waren sehr beeindruckt von der Qualität der Arbeiten der Ghetto Biennale mit der Gruppe Atis Rezistans (Künstler des Widerstands) in der St. Kunigundis Kirche in Kassel. Es ist ein sich stetig wandelndes Künstlerkollektiv aus dem Viertel Grand Rue in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Ihr Stil ist von der haitianischen Alltagskultur und der Voodoo-Religion beeinflusst. Wir zeigen eine Serie von Malereien sowie Voodoo Objekte des jungen Künstlers Jean Müller Milord und Skulpturen des Belgisch-Haitianischen Duo Lafleur &amp; Bogaert.” 2022 Atis Rezistans | Ghetto Biennale: documenta fifteen Catalog&nbsp;︎ Eugène André and Leah Gordon, AR | GB co-founders “Atis Rezistans | Ghetto Biennale, in documenta fifteen, wants to showcase Haitian art, and the collaborations generated by the Ghetto Biennale. We will stage performances, films and a series of discussions and debates which will inform and debate the agency, importance, influence and impact of the Haitian Revolution; discuss the radical lessons that Haitian majority class rural and urban cultures can teach people in the 21st century; and formulate an interrogation of cultural institutions, the margins and the centres of global art production.” 2022 Demure magazine: Créolité Within Haiti&nbsp;︎ Kayla Flett, journalist “The works of Lafleur &amp; Bogaert are creole to the core, both through the unification of two artists from different cultures, but also through the narratives they choose to engage with in their artworks, as well as the methods and materials they use for realising these ideas. Creolisation is a diverse, fluid and protean phenomenon, with endless possibilities and definitions. The essence of creole culture is thus hybridity and resistance to dominant centre-periphery politics. Diverse visual representations of creolisation therefore become historical objects of legacy within an epic postcolonial occurrence.”&nbsp; 2022De Standaard: Documenta in één dag: de hoogtepunten in tien haltes&nbsp;︎ Geert Van der Speeten, journalist “Op de Documenta in Kassel, een van de belangrijkste en dus ook omvangrijkste expo’s voor beeldende kunst ter wereld, loert keuzestress snel om de hoek&nbsp;[...] In de Sint-Kunigundiskerk sloot de Belgische kunstenaar Tom Bogaert zich aan bij een Haïtiaans collectief. Schedels en uit gesloopte auto’s sculpturen roepen een lugubere voodoo-sfeer op. &nbsp;Het duo Lafleur &amp; Bogaert voegde daar werken aan toe in hun eigen kleurrijke stijl.” 2022 VRT: Watou vindt zichzelf opnieuw uit ︎ Kristien Bonneure, journalist cultuur “Wat valt er op in het Kunstenfestival Watou dit jaar? Dat veel kunstenaars niet zomaar met hun creaties zijn neergestreken in het dorp, maar lange tijd aanwezig waren én met de inwoners hebben samengewerkt [...] Ook het werk van Tom Bogaert is verankerd in Watou. De kunstenaar is deze zomer ook actief in het mekka van de hedendaagse kunst, Documenta in Kassel, maar hij stelt tegelijk tentoon in de Westhoek. Op de staande wip van de schuttersgilde Sint-Sebastiaan heeft hij een grote kop van kunststof bevestigd, gemaakt door een reuzenbouwer in Frans-Vlaanderen. Een ‘universele Watou-kop’. &nbsp;Bogaert zocht meer dan 400 foto's van Watoubezoekers op het internet en maakte daar één amalgaam van. Die foto stond model voor de reuzenkop.” 2022 Poëziekrant: Poezie die plaats vindt&nbsp;︎ Virginie Platteau, cultuurjounalist “Bogaert noemt het werk ‘Wij, Gwij, Popinjay’. Een verwijzing naar Mandelinck, naar Poperinge, en naar ons allen. De Wij die gemeenschap vormt; de lokale boogschutters en de ‘vreemden’ die elk jaar in Watou neerstrijken. De dorpsbevolking die het verenigingsleven en de volkssport probeert door te geven aan de weinig geïnteresseerde jongere generatie. Of de ‘wij kunnen dat ook’ waarmee ze argwanend het jaarlijkse kunstenfestival ondergaan? De ‘Wij allen’ die alom in beeld worden gebracht op internet, die met facial recognition onze vrijheid onbewust ingeperkt.” 2022 De Standaard: Watou houdt het dicht bij huis&nbsp;︎ Geert Van der Speeten, redacteur cultuur &amp; media “Kleine en grote verhalen doen deze zomer haasje-over in Watou. Het festival haalt de band aan met de bewoners van het dorpje, en poëzie en kunst zoeken weer hun symbiose op [...] Tom Bogaert vond aansluiting bij typisch Vlaamse folklore, die van de staande wip. Hij verbroederde met de lokale boogschuttersgilde. De wip zelf blijft deze zomer actief, maar twee keer per dag wordt de ultieme ‘Watoukop’ naar boven gehesen. Uit 400 beelden die hij op internet vond, distilleerde Bogaert een röntgenfoto van de doorsnee-Watou­bezoeker: wit, mannelijk en ­kalend.” 2022 Krant van West-Vlaanderen: Prikkelende ervaring voor de bezoeker&nbsp;︎ Laurie Bailliu, journalist “Kunstenaar Tom Bogaert zakte vorige zomer vanuit Rome af naar Watou om deel te nemen aan Patchwork en presenteert deze editie zijn werk ‘Wij Gwij Popinjay’ [...] Hij gebruikte portretten van mensen die via sociale media gelinkt zijn aan het kunstenfestival. &nbsp;De verschillende gezichten werden samengevoegd tot één universele Watoukop en wordt gemonteerd op de ‘staande wip’ van de schuttersgilde Sint-Sebastiaan. Bezoekers kunnen in een tweedehands kooi, die getransformeerd werd tot een kapel.” 2022 Bezoekersgids beeldende kunst: Tom Bogaert’s Wij Gwij Popinjay&nbsp;︎ James Putnam, curator beeldende kunst “De nauwe samenwerking met de boogschuttersgilde en verschillende andere lokale partijen is een mooi voorbeeld van participatie en contrasteert fel met de onvrijwillige participatie bij het ontwerp van de Watoukop. Bogaert bewijst met ‘Wij Gwij Popinjay’ – Gwij is een directe verwijzing naar de bezieler van het festival – niet alleen eer aan de eeuwenoude tradities en rituelen van het grensdorp. Hij laat ook zien dat het festival na al die jaren volledig ingebed zit in het DNA van Watou.” 2022 Kek op reis maar meestal niet: Watou, het dorp aan de skreve&nbsp;︎ Kek, blogger “Het is natuurlijk een geweldig idee om de inwoners van Watou eens actief bij het kunstenfestival te betrekken, maar doen alsof de kunst en de kunstenaars in vroegere edities zich boven het dorp verheven voelden [...] De universele Watoukop van Tom Bogaert is te zien bij de wip van de boogschieters aan de Bollaard. Het is een vreemd ding, vindt Kek.” 2021 Catalogue: A Soft Gentle Breeze at Villa les Zéphyrs&nbsp;︎ Els Weyts, curator “Binnen in de kapel wordt je overweldigd door een kleurrijke installatie van Tom Bogaert. In zijn kunstenaarschap komen regelmatig thema's terug die te maken hebben met maatschappelijke problemen of politieke kwesties, propaganda of entertainment. Ook deze ‘Fontein’ lijkt vooral heel vrolijk en grappig, moor kan evengoed een aantal vragen stellen: de grootschalige installatie is gemaakt met leeggelopen opblaasbare &nbsp;voorwerpen. Het zijn niet aIleen nieuwe, recht uit de doos opgevouwen objecten die naar vers plastic ruiken moor ook lekke, gebruikte, halfvervuilde luchtbedden, rubberen bootjes, strandballen en armbanden die gered zijn uit tuinhuisjes, kelders en zolders. Na een succesvolle oproep aan de plaatselijke gemeenschap om opblaasbare artikelen voor dit project te doneren werden meer dan 500 stuks in alle vormen en kleuren ingezameld. Een herinnering aan de vele zomers aan zee uit onze kindertijd? Of aan de grote opkuisrage tijdens de lockdowns en de huidige pandemie-golven? Of aan de vele plastics die de fauna en flora in de oceanen bedreigen? Of aan de zuurstof die we nodig hebben, nu meer dan ooit.” 2021 De Standaard: A Soft Gentle Breeze ︎ Geert Van der Speeten, redacteur cultuur &amp; media “Pontificaal in het midden prijkt de plastic fontein van Tom Bogaert. &nbsp;Hij zamelde retro-opblaasspullen in en rangschikte ze tot een potsierlijke mozaïek, met een eenhoorn als bekroning. &nbsp;Deze zomertentoonstelling lokt je even weg van duinen en strand. Om in een knusse cocon van een interbellumvilla te verpozen in de bubbel van de verbeelding.”︎︎︎︎ 2021 Die Referentin: When Sun Comes Out at bb15&nbsp;︎ Bettina Landl, writer&nbsp; “Es glitzerte und knisterte in Bogaerts nicht sequentieller interkonnektiven Klangarbeit in drei Teilen, die aus bis her unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen des&nbsp;traditionellen haitianischen Rara-Songs&nbsp;‘Fize Nimewo Nèf’, Sun Ras&nbsp;‘Rocket Number Nine’&nbsp;und&nbsp;‘Rakete Nummer Neun,&nbsp;einem neuen Track der in Wien lebenden Klangkünstlerin Masha Dabelka, besteht.” 2021 Wall label bb15: Sun Ra Ra&nbsp;︎ Sebastian Six, curator “On his first visit to the Ghetto Biennale in Haiti, Belgian artist Tom Bogaert heard something familiar in the rara marching music that was being played in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Already doing work on the interplanetary jazz legend Sun Ra’s visit to Egypt in the early 1970s, Bogaert read in the dog-eared pages of an old copy of the Lonely Planet that Sun Ra was also rumoured to have visited Haiti, perhaps ten years earlier, during his so-called lost years.” 2021 Catalogue: Visit Rwanda by Tom Bogaert&nbsp;︎ Hans Martens, curator “Naar aanleiding van de 25ste herdenking van de 1994 Genocide in Rwanda werd Tom Bogaert door Ivuka Arts in de hoofdstad Kigali uitgenodigd voor een solotentoonstelling met nieuw werk. In de aanloop van dit project bestelde Bogaert een Arsenal voetbalshirt met rugnummer 94 en opdruk ‘Genocide’ via Arsenal Direct, de officiële online winkel van de club.” 2021 Flyer: Tom Bogaert at architekturforum oberösterreich&nbsp;︎ Ushi Reiter, director “Das Bronze-Stadtmodell am Schlossberg zeigt Linz um 1800. Tom Bogaert, heuer Gastkünstler des afo, errichtet darüber eine mehrfarbige Installation aus Agar-Agar. Die Masse ist sowohl Nahrung als auch Habitat für eine Ameisenkolonie, die nach und nach ihren gesamten Lebenszyklus um die Skulptur organisiert und sie in einem natürlichen Verfallsprozess wieder zum Ver­schwinden bringt. Inspiriert von Überlegungen des Architekten und Theo­retikers Eyal Weizman zu Analogien zwischen tierischen Befallsformationen und urbanen Kampfstrategien, will sich Tom Bogaert nicht auf die physisch sichtbare Stadtrealität beschränken. Mit seiner Arbeit thematisiert er eine zweite, „archäofuturistische“ Stadt, wie sie in der Vorstellung ihrer Bewohner*innen existiert.” 2020 Catalogue: Tom Bogaert at ZK/U Berlin&nbsp;︎ Jules van den Langenberg, writer “A brief route description of Tom Bogaert, human rights lawyer turned artist, prompts a collective disruption of the retail heaven Hellweg in Berlin. Following a few other steps you are finally requested to open the emergency exit door. Pulled between looking at the latest Christmas goods and sticking to the plan, you become aware of being on a mission that means breaching the doors and setting off an alarm. Will the angel or the devil on one of your shoulders win or is your brain able to find a way out on its own?” 2020 Flyer: Tom Bogaert at ZK/U Berlin ︎ Estelle Pandao Lassus and Laura Petrucci, artists&nbsp; “Walking the Hellweg is a self-guided walking tour of the Hellweg hardware store in the Moabit neighbourhood of Berlin. It is the third iteration of a project that started with an ArtSchool Palestine residency in Nablus in 2011, where Tom Bogaert mapped remnants of ‘inverse geometry’ as described by Eyal Weizman in his Walking Through Walls.” 2020 Catalogue: AirLess at the AirFactory&nbsp;︎ &nbsp; Gerlinde Gilissen, curator ART27 “Er werd massaal gereageerd op een oproep van ART27 en de kunstenaar om materiaal binnen te brengen: honderden opblaasspullen krijgen op deze manier een nieuwe vorm en inhoud. ‘Luchtledig’ gaat over de belofte van- en de herinnering aan (een zomer).&nbsp; Vooral over de belofte en het verlangen naar iets dat we missen. Sommigen zien in het materiaal ingeklapte longen wat in tijden van Covid-19 en BLM misschien onvermijdelijk is.” 2020 Switch on Paper:&nbsp;Ghetto Biennale, Chronicle of a Revolt Foretold ︎ Sandra Delacourt, writer “Since its creation, the Ghetto Biennale has been held far away from the global contemporary art spotlight, with its consumerist temptations and usual herds. Rather than adopt the spectacular format of an exhibition, it opts to nurture artistic projects developed throughout the entire duration of the biennale. Creation is therefore experienced and carried out under the renegotiated modalities of production, apparition and sharing.” 2019 Wall Label: Ant Farm at the Lagos Biennial&nbsp; ︎ Folakunle Oshun, director “During his time in Nigeria Tom Bogaert worked on a new site-specific installation: ‘Ant Farm Lagos’, a multi-colored map of Lagos Island made of translucent ‘agar-agar’ – a vegetarian gelatin substitute, combined with sugar, tea tree oil, weeds, soil, black ants, and white wine. Towards the end of his residency Bogaert started experimenting with palm wine. The map is mounted on plywood cut out in the form of Lagos Island and rests on a construction of plastic stools. The ants were collected at the site of the Lagos Biennial using sugar bait traps.” 2019 Uit in Oostende: Tom Bogaert - Visit Rwanda&nbsp; ︎ Robine Vanderhaeghe, journalist “West-Vlaming Tom Bogaert werkte als mensenrechtenactivist voor de VN en Amnesty International tot hij in 2004 naar de VS verhuisde om er als beeldend kunstenaar aan de slag te gaan. Zijn werken tonen nog steeds een voorliefde voor maatschappelijke en politieke thema’s. Op 16 juni komt Tom op uitnodiging van Bildnis – Forum voor Kunst naar De Grote Post om te vertellen over zijn nieuwste project ‘Visit Rwanda’. Daarin stelt hij de disproportionele media-aandacht in vraag van twee gebeurtenissen uit de jaren negentig – de Rwandese genocide en de zaak O.J. Simpson.” 2019 Living in Kigali: Interview with Artist Tom Bogaert&nbsp;︎ Kirsty Henderson, journalist “What’s your connection to Rwanda? Between 1996 and 1997 I documented the aftermath of the Rwanda Genocide on behalf of the UN Refugee Agency. And when I transitioned from law to art in 2004, I made my visual arts debut with ‘This is Rwanda’ a short experimental video in which I embedded footage of the Genocide into the interface of an animated computer game. The film had its world premiere at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and was included in several film festivals thereafter. What can you tell us about your project ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ at Ivuka Arts?&nbsp;On the occasion of the 25th anniversaries in 2019 of respectively the Genocide in Rwanda and the O.J. Simpson case, I have been thinking for while about doing a project in Rwanda that takes as its starting point the concept of simultaneity. ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ hopes to explore the Relativity of Simultaneity: the concept that distant simultaneity – whether two spatially separated events occur at the same time – is not absolute, but depends on the observer’s reference frame. This project furthermore interrogates contemporary theories of time.” 2019 Flyer: Dog Day Afternoon at Ivuka Art Center&nbsp;︎ Collin Sekajugo, founder “Ivuka Art Center is pleased to present ‘Dog Day Afternoon,’ a solo exhibition by Tom Bogaert our current artist in residence.&nbsp;Founded in 2007 by artist Collin Sekajugo, Ivuka Arts is Rwanda's first visual arts incubator and has been integral to the growth of the Rwandan contemporary arts scene.” 2018 Catalogue: Pulse Miami Beach&nbsp;︎ Elizabeth Boyle, director “Mobile pharmacies are the main source of medicine for many Haitians. Street vendors carry spirals of curved cardboard covered with pills painkillers, antibiotics, Viagra knockoffs, condoms, abortion pills and cough syrups. Exclusively for PROJECTS, Michel Lafleur (Haiti) and Tom Bogaert (Belgium) present new work inspired by the ‘Famasi Mobil Swis’ originally commissioned by the Swiss Pavilion at the 2017 Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Lafleur and Bogaert bring to PULSE a number of sculptural mobile pharmacies reminiscent of Bodys Isek Kingelez extreme maquettes” 2018 Catalogue: Qalandiya International ︎ Ahed Izhiman, curator “Observance is a new research-based art project that examines ‘November 29 - the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People’ as observed by the United Nations. Tom Bogaert will use video, sound, web, and installation to illuminate the origin, history, relevance, and status of this annual event vis-à-vis other UN -organized international days such as World Braille Day, the International Day of Happiness, and World Tourism Day. International observance, also known as international dedication or anniversary, is a period of time to observe an issue of international interest or concern. This is used to commemorate, promote, and mobilize for action. The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was established by UN General Assembly Resolution 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, to start in 1978. Special commemorative activities are organized by the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat in consultation with the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.” 2014Companion to the Exhibtion: Sun Ra in Egypt at Medrar Contemporary&nbsp;︎ Natalie Bell, curator Tom Bogaert’s ‘1971, Sun Ra in Egypt’ is an ongoing research project based on the life and work of Sun Ra that exists as a series of performances, lectures, installations, videos, art objects, and a related publication. The project takes as its starting point Sun Ra’s 1971 visit to Egypt, and many of the related works playfully insert Sun Ra’s life and legacy into the conceptual, pop, and minimalist zeitgeist of the New York art world of the 1960s and 1970s. Tom Bogaert came to art over a decade ago after practicing refugee law. His artistic practice is organized through long-term research projects that often examine the intersection of humanism and human rights, politics and entertainment, and art and propaganda. Bogaert moved to Amman, Jordan in 2009 and has since produced a series of works under a project called ‘Impression, mena,’ which draws from his experience as a European living and working in the Middle East and North Africa, and uses irony and criticism to interrogate the layers of his own understanding of contemporary issues throughout the region. &nbsp; https://tombogaert.org/LAFLEUR-BOGAERT Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:36:17 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/LAFLEUR-BOGAERT <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5f78fabb638765d0e6802adbb37184f959a339e4323b1f6ce9a83e6a6fca934/LAFLEUR-BOGAERT.jpg" data-mid="195662867" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e5f78fabb638765d0e6802adbb37184f959a339e4323b1f6ce9a83e6a6fca934/LAFLEUR-BOGAERT.jpg" /> The Lafleur &amp; Bogaert duo brings together two distinct worlds. Michel Lafleur, a Haitian portrait painter locally known for his elaborate decorations in Port-au-Prince barbershops, originally trained to paint the façades of tap taps, Port-au-Prince’s famously ornate small buses. Tom Bogaert is a Belgian artist, formerly a human rights lawyer with extensive experience in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The two artists would likely never have met without The Ghetto Biennale, a creative institution launched in 2009 that pairs international artists with artists from the Grand Rue neighborhood, gathered in a group known as Atis Rezistans (resistance artists). Working together since 2013, Lafleur &amp; Bogaert is the most enduring collaboration to emerge from that event. https://lafleurbogaert.org/ https://tombogaert.org/WAR Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:47:09 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/WAR WAR A conscientious objector, Tom Bogaert explores how the logic of war has seeped into everyday life. In 2023, he was an artist in residence at Ars Electronica Futurelab in Linz, Austria, supported by the Flemish Ministry of Culture (Belgium). Bogaert’s residency project at the Futurelab aims to explore our relationship with the order of things that we have been taught and sold through the lens of multilateral propaganda in the context of international conflict. <img width="1181" height="1181" width_o="1181" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2bb9789e8409eeef08f1f2c4c4eee476e3a64db4f5af7ac31cdc3ca01681155/SIT-_2a_.jpg" data-mid="244152629" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d2bb9789e8409eeef08f1f2c4c4eee476e3a64db4f5af7ac31cdc3ca01681155/SIT-_2a_.jpg" />Objection (2023)Installation view at undisclosed location in Belgium. <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7be1d392399150b46a7ee0dcca7b9e1831733087e6bc56108acd04be73866dc9/IMG_4137.jpeg" data-mid="244152632" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7be1d392399150b46a7ee0dcca7b9e1831733087e6bc56108acd04be73866dc9/IMG_4137.jpeg" /> Objection collage (2023)250 x 200 cm.At the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. The artist seeks to bend technology and engages with weaponry within a discourse of refusal, viewing it both as an act of protest and a generative process of renewal. During his time at the Ars Electronica Futurelab, he hacked weapons, strategies, industries, and geopolitics – and called it art. <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2f3ab3477adcedc963f83e3a41ce67be916228dfd38e433d6bb1e181cfece37f/30.jpeg" data-mid="244152630" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2f3ab3477adcedc963f83e3a41ce67be916228dfd38e433d6bb1e181cfece37f/30.jpeg" /> IDEX (2023)Russian Helicopters at the Abu Dhabi Arms Fair. Field research included a visit to the arms fair IDEX in Abu Dhabi where Bogaert was struck by the banality of the event. Drawing inspiration from the Stockholm Peace Institute’s Top 100 arms producing companies list, he invested a portion of his grant money in acquiring shares in a few of these companies. Tom Bogaert bought his first shares on 2 May 2023 at the height of the war in Ukraine. Following that, his portfolio slowly lost value. However, the Monday after the outbreak of the Hamas - Israel war on 7 October 2023, his equity portfolio rose more than 10% in one day and has continued to rise ever since. <img width="960" height="1291" width_o="960" height_o="1291" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b892e91bd39b47c93cebca8ffb4c721c5b7cc82012cc8ee6dc552af9a49f042/The-Hamas-Effect-1.jpeg" data-mid="244152631" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/960/i/9b892e91bd39b47c93cebca8ffb4c721c5b7cc82012cc8ee6dc552af9a49f042/The-Hamas-Effect-1.jpeg" /> The Hamas Effect (2023 - 2024)Value on 27 March 2024. <img width="960" height="1809" width_o="960" height_o="1809" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/07f554eb9a3514164dbfc611696298c7cb7f27812726a6868d967034542ecd5c/IMG_2546.jpeg" data-mid="244153072" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/960/i/07f554eb9a3514164dbfc611696298c7cb7f27812726a6868d967034542ecd5c/IMG_2546.jpeg" /> The Hamas Effect (2023 - 2026)Value on 19 January 2026. <img width="3946" height="3024" width_o="3946" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb55cf3d76bc9394701179160e50161960aff584a802272196f600755d71f038/installation-view-Ars-Electronca-1.jpeg" data-mid="244152628" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb55cf3d76bc9394701179160e50161960aff584a802272196f600755d71f038/installation-view-Ars-Electronca-1.jpeg" /> Objection (2023) Installation view at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. https://tombogaert.org/EUROPE Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:36:17 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/EUROPE EUROPE Tom Bogaert was born in Bruges, Belgium. In this chapter, you will find work that Bogaert made in a European context. &nbsp; Johann, Mur, Enns, Drava and Sann&nbsp; <img width="4288" height="2848" width_o="4288" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b5d118beb93fff5e42ba9d09bd22b0d2cfb3fb0ef6dc5cf0a2f2e4033b807cb1/GRAZ-8.jpg" data-mid="209051356" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b5d118beb93fff5e42ba9d09bd22b0d2cfb3fb0ef6dc5cf0a2f2e4033b807cb1/GRAZ-8.jpg" /> Johann, Mur, Enns, Drava and Sann (2024) C-print, 33 x 46 cm For the exhibition ‘Kunst Heimat Kunst Revisited’ at steirischen herbst festival for contemporary art in Graz, Austria. <img width="1318" height="1367" width_o="1318" height_o="1367" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0b927da66c134ca4b11d04958fc767493ce0704a9858f1761b8e998e3f4e20a7/Screenshot-2024-04-18-at-08.54.51.jpeg" data-mid="209218332" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0b927da66c134ca4b11d04958fc767493ce0704a9858f1761b8e998e3f4e20a7/Screenshot-2024-04-18-at-08.54.51.jpeg" /> Johann, Mur, Enns, Drava and Sann (2024) Screenshots from video collage. Recent global discussions regarding controversial monuments have underscored how a nation’s array of memorials celebrates some histories and erases others. Graz is the capital of the Austrian federal state of Styria and its main square features a monumental fountain with Johann ‘The Styrian Prince’ towering above four female allegorical figures representing the Mur, Enns, Drava, and Sann rivers that traversed Styria's historical boundaries. These figures are also interpreted as embodying four cardinal virtues attributed to Johann: vigilance, piety, wisdom, and fertility. Responding to the steirischen herbst Werner Fenz Grant for Art in Public Space, Tom Bogaert reimagines the Archduke Johann Fountain as a monumental, site-specific installation crafted from deflated, collapsed inflatable objects. Bogaert launches an appeal to the population of Graz to contribute discarded inflatables rescued from their garden sheds, basements, and attics. He anticipates receiving a diverse array of items, from leaky air mattresses, pink flamingos, and rubber boats to pristine, newly purchased inflatables. In this transformative gesture, the fountain will be temporarily concealed beneath an overt-the-top, cacophonic, riotous, multi-coloured heap of plastic, obscuring Johnny and his allegorical companions from public view, while the water continues to flow unabated. VENDELZWAAIER - FLAGGENWERFER <img width="1920" height="1281" width_o="1920" height_o="1281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0a94a012172929f4dc863aa497dac41f142ce3122e43bce9a6c5c53726f8c4e2/1-Mannequin.jpg" data-mid="196251046" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0a94a012172929f4dc863aa497dac41f142ce3122e43bce9a6c5c53726f8c4e2/1-Mannequin.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1281" width_o="1920" height_o="1281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/edf4a36589c4c1939202f10e927b8c3bf701d6b713cb6d9c36a3ee58fcb1e722/3-Flat-Files-1.jpg" data-mid="196251025" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/edf4a36589c4c1939202f10e927b8c3bf701d6b713cb6d9c36a3ee58fcb1e722/3-Flat-Files-1.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1281" width_o="1920" height_o="1281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61add89f571564f70571c0b9ba437505164bc1dde3bbc19f7b9191c7365887df/4-Solarium-Flandria.jpg" data-mid="196251033" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61add89f571564f70571c0b9ba437505164bc1dde3bbc19f7b9191c7365887df/4-Solarium-Flandria.jpg" />Vendelzwaaier - Flaggenwerfer (2023)Installation view at IKOB Museum of Contemporary Art in Eupen, Belgium. Christine Vuegen in HART Magazine: “De Belg Tom Bogaert durft het aan om zijn verleden als vendelzwaaier openbaar te maken, toen hij met de Vlaamse vlag stond te zwaaien. Het is zijn eerste autobiografisch werk. Vorig jaar oogden zijn bijdrage in Watou en ook zijn samenwerking met de Haïtiaan Michel Lafleur in documenta 15 in Kassel nogal rommelig. Nu komt hij aanzetten met de puntgave installatie Vendelzwaaier – Flaggenwerfer: een signalisatiepop, zo’n pop die met een rood vlagje zwaait bij wegenwerken, en op de met zilveren nooddekens beklede muren zijn subtiel het geel en zwart van de Vlaamse vlag aangebracht. Verderop kan je door herinneringsboeken bladeren over zijn jeugd als lid van een vereniging vendelzwaaiers in Brugge.” Frank-Thorsten Moll, Director IKOB: “Following an invitation by Henrike Naumann, the Rome-based artist Tom Bogaert presented his project Vendelzwaaier – Flaggenwerfer at IKOB Museum of Contemporary Art in Eupen, Belgium from 24 January to 16 April 2023.&nbsp; Vendelzwaaier – Flaggenwerfer, respectively Flemish and German for ‘flag thrower,’ is arguably Bogaert’s most personal work to date, the cycle being concerned with his youth as a member of a flag thrower’s association. These traditional associations date back to the Middle Ages and, play an important role for the visual language of the so-called ‘Flemish movement’ in the Belgian region of Flanders. Superficially a movement concerned with the promotion of Flemish culture and the Dutch language, it was partially co-opted by extremists using its platform to advocate for Flemish independence with nationalism and xenophobia at the centre of their agendas. When Tom Bogaert found an old scrapbook containing pictures from his time as a flag thrower, he began to wonder how it had been possible to unwittingly throw around the Flemish flag emblazoned with a lion as a teenager. Subsequently, he began collecting photos, videos, and archival material, presented for the first time at IKOB.” WIJ GWIJ POPINJAY <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74905d04cbf01847572410ce92502f1ea201e45790964cecc52cacb921008324/3.JPG" data-mid="196257794" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/74905d04cbf01847572410ce92502f1ea201e45790964cecc52cacb921008324/3.JPG" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f2350720c9544f61bbaed93edcb82873fb5c139d7d78ab8b6f8754ac0f7447fa/IMG_7944-copy.jpeg" data-mid="196911141" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f2350720c9544f61bbaed93edcb82873fb5c139d7d78ab8b6f8754ac0f7447fa/IMG_7944-copy.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="3971" width_o="3024" height_o="3971" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/befe5428c13dc68d13ee79818b868cfae605ae04734782f25f43bf6772fe1eb0/WKF-1-Wij-Gwij-Popinjay-Tom-Bogaert.jpeg" data-mid="196444596" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/befe5428c13dc68d13ee79818b868cfae605ae04734782f25f43bf6772fe1eb0/WKF-1-Wij-Gwij-Popinjay-Tom-Bogaert.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8dc5d8c650378745711b33ed2b0e1e95db29794d358c085e7485b073830b20b3/7.JPG" data-mid="196257795" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8dc5d8c650378745711b33ed2b0e1e95db29794d358c085e7485b073830b20b3/7.JPG" />Wij Gwij Popinjay (2022)Installation view Watou Arts Festival, Belgium. Virginie Platteau, cultuurjounalist in de Poëziekrant: “Bogaert noemt het werk ‘Wij, Gwij, Popinjay’. Een verwijzing naar Mandelinck, naar Poperinge, en naar ons allen. De Wij die gemeenschap vormt; de lokale boogschutters en de ‘vreemden’ die elk jaar in Watou neerstrijken. De dorpsbevolking die het verenigingsleven en de volkssport probeert door te geven aan de weinig geïnteresseerde jongere generatie. Of de “wij kunnen dat ook” waarmee ze argwanend het jaarlijkse kunstenfestival ondergaan? De ‘Wij allen’ die alom in beeld worden gebracht op internet, die met facial recognition onze vrijheid onbewust ingeperkt.” Kristien Bonneure, VRT journalist cultuur: “Wat valt er op in het Kunstenfestival Watou dit jaar? Dat veel kunstenaars niet zomaar met hun creaties zijn neergestreken in het dorp, maar lange tijd aanwezig waren én met de inwoners hebben samengewerkt. Ook het werk van Tom Bogaert is verankerd in Watou. De kunstenaar is deze zomer ook actief in het mekka van de hedendaagse kunst, Documenta in Kassel, maar hij stelt tegelijk tentoon in de Westhoek. Op de staande wip van de schuttersgilde Sint-Sebastiaan heeft hij een grote kop van kunststof bevestigd, gemaakt door een reuzenbouwer in Frans-Vlaanderen. Een ‘universele Watou-kop’. &nbsp;Bogaert zocht meer dan 400 foto's van Watoubezoekers op het internet en maakte daar één amalgaam van. Die foto stond model voor de reuzenkop.” Geert Van der Speeten, redacteur cultuur &amp; media bij De Standaard: “Kleine en grote verhalen doen deze zomer haasje-over in Watou. Het festival haalt de band aan met de bewoners van het dorpje, en poëzie en kunst zoeken weer hun symbiose op. Tom Bogaert vond aansluiting bij typisch Vlaamse folklore, die van de staande wip. Hij verbroederde met de lokale boogschuttersgilde. De wip zelf blijft deze zomer actief, maar twee keer per dag wordt de ultieme ‘Watoukop’ naar boven gehesen. Uit 400 beelden die hij op internet vond, distilleerde Bogaert een röntgenfoto van de doorsnee-Watou­bezoeker: wit, mannelijk en ­kalend.” FONTEIN <img width="2996" height="3995" width_o="2996" height_o="3995" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4d260297dfc18eae6265f9b57ea8650dbd39d59645ae2195d49a08587d57c934/IMG_2407.jpeg" data-mid="196932770" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4d260297dfc18eae6265f9b57ea8650dbd39d59645ae2195d49a08587d57c934/IMG_2407.jpeg" /><img width="2665" height="1723" width_o="2665" height_o="1723" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/792da71b771ee4e92fbfa39c1c0d91f2ec1996a13d50c1e518c237628e6f0e91/IMG_2462-1.jpeg" data-mid="196263925" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/792da71b771ee4e92fbfa39c1c0d91f2ec1996a13d50c1e518c237628e6f0e91/IMG_2462-1.jpeg" /> Fontein (2021) At Villa les Zéphyrs in Westende, Belgium. Els Wuyts, curator: “Binnen in de kapel wordt je overweldigd door een kleurrijke installatie van Tom Bogaert. In zijn kunstenaarschap komen regelmatig thema's terug die te maken hebben met maatschappelijke problemen of politieke kwesties, propaganda of entertainment. Ook deze ‘Fontein’ lijkt vooral heel vrolijk en grappig, moor kan evengoed een aantal vragen stellen: de grootschalige installatie is gemaakt met leeggelopen opblaasbare &nbsp;voorwerpen. Het zijn niet aIleen nieuwe, recht uit de doos opgevouwen objecten die naar vers plastic ruiken moor ook lekke, gebruikte, halfvervuilde luchtbedden, rubberen bootjes, strandballen en armbanden die gered zijn uit tuinhuisjes, kelders en zolders. Na een succesvolle oproep aan de plaatselijke gemeenschap om opblaasbare artikelen voor dit project te doneren werden meer dan 500 stuks in alle vormen en kleuren ingezameld. Een herinnering aan de vele zomers aan zee uit onze kindertijd? Of aan de grote opkuisrage tijdens de lockdowns en de huidige pandemie-golven? Of aan de vele plastics die de fauna en flora in de oceanen bedreigen? Of aan de zuurstof die we nodig hebben, nu meer dan ooit.” <img width="2861" height="2861" width_o="2861" height_o="2861" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed0818adb899e564c800c0758269cc226de8938da7675ad1c9ea449a73a45bda/IMG_3379.jpeg" data-mid="196447784" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed0818adb899e564c800c0758269cc226de8938da7675ad1c9ea449a73a45bda/IMG_3379.jpeg" />Organ (2023) At the Festival der Regionen in Kefermarkt, Austria. Georg Wilbertz in Die Referentin: “At first glance, Tom Bogaert takes a playful approach in his contribution ‘Organ/Orgel’ in the parish church of Kefermarkt. Due to its famous altar and Adalbert Stifter's intensive involvement with it, the church is part of the canon of Upper Austrian high culture. Bogaert contrasts the traditional aura of the space with a dazzling sculpture made of plastic. Flashy, colourful inflatable objects such as swimming bands, air mattresses, etc. are collected and piled up in a flabby state to form a sculptural installation. Not only through their materiality and appearance, but also through the absurd aesthetic contrast, the artist succeeds in playfully condensing fractures and paradoxes of our present into a theatrical image.” &nbsp; https://tombogaert.org/MENA Sun, 22 Sep 2024 11:32:11 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/MENA MENAMiddle East North Africa In 2010 Tom Bogaert moved to Amman, Jordan. He began to produce a body of work that draws from his experience as a foreigner living and working in the Arab world. This chapter features a selection of artworks that Bogaert made before, during and after the events of the Arab Spring in Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. OBSERVANCE <img width="1024" height="582" width_o="1024" height_o="582" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abb6fdd0339521e581cddb550c87f01a36d81a6047a6753958752b1af66bfad5/03_Observance.jpg" data-mid="218470403" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/abb6fdd0339521e581cddb550c87f01a36d81a6047a6753958752b1af66bfad5/03_Observance.jpg" /> Observance (2018)Web based project. ‘Observance’ examines the relevance and position of ‘The International UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People’ vis-à-vis other UN-organized days such as the World Braille Day, the World Tourism Day, and the International Day of Happiness. Commissioned by Qalandiya International IV – The 2018 Palestinian Biennial in Jerusalem. FOAM (I’M GONNA LIVE FOREVER) Foam (I’m gonna live forever) (2017)Shredded foam filling and firecrackers, performance, and video. Partial explosions of bags of multi-coloured foam pieces. Tom Bogaert was in Algiers during the days leading up to Mawlid, the birthday of the prophet Mohammed, when traditionally firecrackers are sold throughout the city. ‘Foam (I’m gonna live forever)’ offers thematic cues of martyrdom, fame, and coincidence. Bogaert used following firecracker brands: Mergeza, Cheitana, TNT, Fleur, and Camouflage. The project premiered at Espaco Gallery in Algiers, Algeria in November 2017. ONE TWO THREE, VIVA L’ALGÉRIE <img width="1608" height="905" width_o="1608" height_o="905" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c3ed2ff0b9f0fd78dbada1c22150898167244ece45a96dc75c1629bbc3587110/Bogaert_Tom_08_one-two-three--vive-l-Algerie-2017-copy.jpeg" data-mid="218470399" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c3ed2ff0b9f0fd78dbada1c22150898167244ece45a96dc75c1629bbc3587110/Bogaert_Tom_08_one-two-three--vive-l-Algerie-2017-copy.jpeg" /> One two three, viva l’Algérie (2017)Performance and video. For ‘One two three, viva l’Algérie’ Bogaert used a home-made air powered device and firecrackers to create the illusion of bloody gunshot impacts on buildings in Algiers. THE ONE INVENTED, TWISTED ANIMATOR <img width="3453" height="1957" width_o="3453" height_o="1957" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e7b011782b3977c8d3a7ac6c168210ec8c2293157b26ad4e84e78d7bf85d8da/Bogaert_Tom_10_the-one-invented-twisted-animator-2015.jpg" data-mid="218470394" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8e7b011782b3977c8d3a7ac6c168210ec8c2293157b26ad4e84e78d7bf85d8da/Bogaert_Tom_10_the-one-invented-twisted-animator-2015.jpg" /> The One Invented, Twisted Animator (2015)Photos and accessories.Installation view Maison de la Culture - Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. This work consists of seven photos, battery-operated Christmas lights, used picture frames, plastic flowers, and a decorative hook. Bogaert borrowed the titel from a refrain in the song ‘Firestarter’ by The Prodigy. This title references the catalytic action of the Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi - whose self-immolation arguably triggered the Jasmine Revolution, and the subsequent Arab Spring. This project was first presented at the Maison de la Culture in Mohamed Bouazizi’s hometown of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. PEPSI, COLA, WATER? <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/479b848bbf9cb4bc53a053c1e9d6d1d4311c9c8830a2cc5ac98779a4bcc253b9/Tom-Bogaert---pepsi--cola-water-1.jpg" data-mid="218470389" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/479b848bbf9cb4bc53a053c1e9d6d1d4311c9c8830a2cc5ac98779a4bcc253b9/Tom-Bogaert---pepsi--cola-water-1.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0ef8da304d3876a5f57f11801ae5698fe52bfff24d4c6ef67c935ef3cce3c42c/Still-image-pepsi--cola--water--Tom-Bogaert.jpg" data-mid="218470397" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0ef8da304d3876a5f57f11801ae5698fe52bfff24d4c6ef67c935ef3cce3c42c/Still-image-pepsi--cola--water--Tom-Bogaert.jpg" />pepsi, cola, water? (2015)Screenshots from 09:18 video. ‘pepsi, cola, water?’ is a short experimental award-winning documentary about the Arab Spring of the early 2010s seen through the lens of Sun Ra’s legendary visit to Egypt in 1971. Jazz pioneer and philosopher Sun Ra had a deep fascination with outer space and ancient Egypt. Computer animation, archival footage, and music from Sun Ra are interwoven to create a recreation/celebration of the events of the Arab Spring and Sun Ra’s mythical visit to Egypt. The result is a film as far out as Sun Ra himself and can be viewed on request. SUN RA IN EGYPT <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6062d9b62b8dcb06510853354e187689af4ac16dad6e8a88b404850e35c0cffc/Monument.jpg" data-mid="218470393" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6062d9b62b8dcb06510853354e187689af4ac16dad6e8a88b404850e35c0cffc/Monument.jpg" /> ‘Monument’ 1 for Sun Ra (2014)27 tanning lamps, mechanical timers.Installation view, Medrar for Contemporary Art in Cairo, Egypt. ‘Sun Ra in Egypt’ is a research project based on the life and work of Sun Ra. A constellation of works includes performances, lectures, installations, videos, sculptures and a related publication. Taking Sun Ra’s visit to Egypt as its starting point, the related works playfully weave his legacy through the framework of pop, minimalist, and conceptual art of the 60s &amp; 70s New York scene. The project premiered at Medrar for Contemporary Art in Cairo, Egypt in May 2014. VOYAGE, VOYAGE Voyage Voyage Video (2015)by v5mt 00:33 ‘Voyage, voyage’ aims to formulate responses to the art world’s romantic appropriation of the discourse surrounding exodus, freedom of movement, immigration, refugees, cosmopolitanism, and nomadism. This project deals with radicalism through the figure of the strawberry plant; a radicant bound to endless voyage. Tom Bogaert taught himself to grow strawberries in a community garden. He conducted a series of botanical and artistic experiments on the plants, testing claims that they would survive after their first roots had been severed. Bogaert then developed this research at The Ultra Laboratory and Galerie Fatma Jellal in Casablanca, Morocco, and the Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Tunis, Tunisia. Voyage Voyage / It's Grim Up North (2017)Soundtrack 02:33Album cover 31 x 31 cm. This soundtrack pays tribute to all the Arab women and men who left for the north. ‘It's Grim Up North’ is a 1991 single by The KLF - an electronic band from the British rave scene. In this track, a pounding industrial techno beat is juxtaposed against a list of English towns; Tom Bogaert replaced the lyrics of ‘It's Grim Up North’ with a list of Arabic names. This becomes the official soundtrack of ‘Voyage, voyage’. The track is available via Tunisia's online platform for the Venice Biennale. Commissioned by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation (KLF) in Tunisia. AND DID THOSE FEET <img width="1000" height="1000" width_o="1000" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fe763beaed2c47d69ae6846b4625a6a5d346034e41633a1b7678f49fd6e20a24/20ef14e8905b65b65d07c946c5e00fce.600x600x1.jpeg" data-mid="218470396" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fe763beaed2c47d69ae6846b4625a6a5d346034e41633a1b7678f49fd6e20a24/20ef14e8905b65b65d07c946c5e00fce.600x600x1.jpeg" /> <img width="1000" height="923" width_o="1000" height_o="923" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/952afa194fee59907e58bb7c6d629bf355a285d60c314ebd27960e2d1210b797/vignette_prefixe_image-1.jpg.png" data-mid="218470398" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/952afa194fee59907e58bb7c6d629bf355a285d60c314ebd27960e2d1210b797/vignette_prefixe_image-1.jpg.png" />And Did Those Feet (2012).Vinyl and cold cuts. In this installation, 35mm slide photographs are projected onto vacuum packed slices of Siniora chicken luncheon. The photos depict the 1970’s rock band Emerson, Lake &amp; Palmer (ELP), and the soundtrack features the band’s cover of the hymn ‘Jerusalem’. Siniora chicken luncheon is an icon of 1970’s Palestine. For a generation, it is synonymous with Jerusalem, and the rose-colored slices of processed meat. Commissioned by Al-Hoash Gallery in Jerusalem for the exhibition ‘And Did Those Feet’ in June 2012. PAVEMENT POPSICLES Minecraft Mausoleum (2011)Performance and video 05:03 In this performance in Beirut, Lebanon, Tom Bogaert replaced broken glass curb markers with exact copies – made of ice. CRACKED WINDSHIELDS <img width="2771" height="2056" width_o="2771" height_o="2056" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bf99bd037598ab0f45c4bc9f0669709d9e233777128a7090191a1039ecb3c571/cracked-windshields.jpg" data-mid="218470400" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bf99bd037598ab0f45c4bc9f0669709d9e233777128a7090191a1039ecb3c571/cracked-windshields.jpg" /> Cracked Windshields (2011)English version74 x 100 cm. Bogaert salvaged cracked windshields from car scrapyards in Beirut and transformed them into maps of the city. ANT FARM NABLUS <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6117df8a93ed930958d2b62dd94ea6176fdfc51a381759c2d6fe292d96144941/Ant-Farm-Nablus-1-copy.jpg" data-mid="218470402" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6117df8a93ed930958d2b62dd94ea6176fdfc51a381759c2d6fe292d96144941/Ant-Farm-Nablus-1-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/74b97f847818bb216c5e50f26f39202c46743409682adffe1d51c78c8a2a390a/3-tombogaert_Source-Material-for-Ant-Farm-Lagos-copy.JPG" data-mid="218470391" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/74b97f847818bb216c5e50f26f39202c46743409682adffe1d51c78c8a2a390a/3-tombogaert_Source-Material-for-Ant-Farm-Lagos-copy.JPG" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c55ae34216257df5b8871d087b354408fb4b925efb56266b0f0dfc57f23198a3/2-tombogaert_Source-Material-for-Ant-Farm-Lagos-copy.JPG" data-mid="218470390" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c55ae34216257df5b8871d087b354408fb4b925efb56266b0f0dfc57f23198a3/2-tombogaert_Source-Material-for-Ant-Farm-Lagos-copy.JPG" /> Ant Farm Nablus (2011)Installation view Al-Aswad house, Al-Yassmineh in Nablus, Palestine.Light box, jars, ant gel, food coloring, live ants. ‘Ant Farm Nablus’ addresses the problems inherent in academicizing, aestheticizing and glorifying contemporary warfare. For this, Tom Bogaert examines the theme of ‘inverse geometry’ a so-called ‘high concept spatial technique’ used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in their 2002 offensive against the Palestinian resistance in Nablus and described by Eyal Weizman in his ‘Walking Through Walls’. The starting point for ‘Ant Farm Nablus’ is a map of the old city of Nablus made of translucent ‘agar-agar’ – a vegetarian gelatin substitute. The map functions as an ant farm as the gel serves as both habitat and nutrition for the ants. This allows the viewer to watch the ants turn the gel map into a colony of tunnels. ‘Ant Farm Nablus’ at this stage depicts what it means to be able to bend space to your own particular navigational, political, religious, and military needs. Installation for the 2011 ‘Between Ebal and Gerzim’ exhibition produced by the Birzeit University Museum and ArtSchool Palestine. SYRIA OBJECTS <img width="1476" height="1403" width_o="1476" height_o="1403" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f11f8cae8f0e7fe8bf5b0de15e8e241fa9063bb8c1d49f997ddf287d14ddce2b/011-1-copy.jpg" data-mid="218470407" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f11f8cae8f0e7fe8bf5b0de15e8e241fa9063bb8c1d49f997ddf287d14ddce2b/011-1-copy.jpg" /> Bashar Al-Assad Tumbling E Eye Chart (2010) Printed plexiglass mounted on lightbox.20 x 20 cm.Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad is a British-trained ophthalmologist. The eye doctor’s tumbling E eye chart is the alpha and omega of ‘Syria objects’. Does Dr. Bashar still dream about tumbling Eye Doctor E charts and the course for Syria they might chart: left, right, up or down? The project premiered in Aleppo, Syria in August 2010. <img width="5616" height="3744" width_o="5616" height_o="3744" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb91157b1fb7a5b89c23518ab54dbb6c923920f07af39d4906ce44a7ca2de908/IMG_1407.jpg" data-mid="218470401" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb91157b1fb7a5b89c23518ab54dbb6c923920f07af39d4906ce44a7ca2de908/IMG_1407.jpg" /><img width="5616" height="3744" width_o="5616" height_o="3744" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/576a9b785b09a848986a9e2494222d99789c032e6dd5b3902a86ff37680198ed/IMG_1395.jpg" data-mid="218470406" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/576a9b785b09a848986a9e2494222d99789c032e6dd5b3902a86ff37680198ed/IMG_1395.jpg" /> Watertanks (2010)Welded galvanized steel water tanks mounted on metal standTank: 60 x 60 x 60 cmStand: 200 x 80 x 60 cm A series of water tanks are installed on the roofs of Damascus. These are three-dimensional renderings of the uppercase E that is depicted in the medical eye chart. Minecraft Mausoleum (2010 - 2011)Online video game and video (04:14) Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is known to be a computer geek. He used to be chairman of the 'Syrian Computer Society' and opened up his country to the internet in 2001. Minecraft Mausoleum utilizes Minecraft - an online building game - as context and medium to present a model for a Mausoleum for president Bashar. A first model and rendering of the Mausoleum was presented in Aleppo, Syria in August 2010. Soundtrack: 'Song for Lenin' from the CD 'Best of Communism, selection of revolutionary songs. Hungaraton Records 1997 ARIEL <img width="2736" height="3648" width_o="2736" height_o="3648" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f79bf54e167d24c1a9e66b16689444af4cbe228aad664918fd8e21c810364885/after_IMG_4840-copy.jpg" data-mid="218470404" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f79bf54e167d24c1a9e66b16689444af4cbe228aad664918fd8e21c810364885/after_IMG_4840-copy.jpg" /> Ariel (2010)Installation view in Birzeit, Palestine.200 x 150 x 100 cm.Washing powder boxes, metal wire, plastic rods, and washing powder. On the occasion of a visit to the Israeli settlement of Ariel in Palestine, Tom Bogaert bought boxes of Ariel washing powder in the local supermarket. He then used the boxes combined with everyday detritus to construct a makeshift sculptural settlement in Birzeit. The construction was presented on a bed of white washing powder. Made during a Triangle Arts &amp; Al-Mahatta Gallery residency in Birzeit, Palestine. PALESTINE: SOUNDS NEAT BUT FALLS APART WHEN YOU TRY TO GRASP IT, LIKE A STALE MERINGUE <img width="2632" height="1579" width_o="2632" height_o="1579" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e8e5e0695705bbd7be0f80686701616ea27b84488983da4c693e72bbb9d1c9d5/IMG_6065.jpeg" data-mid="218470405" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e8e5e0695705bbd7be0f80686701616ea27b84488983da4c693e72bbb9d1c9d5/IMG_6065.jpeg" /> Meringues made with Ariel washing powder. KOMPRESSOR <img width="2655" height="2254" width_o="2655" height_o="2254" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/22a67c0167510eeacecc562f8caec98a34a2f1883983dfd22f058048b92cf42c/kompressor-5-copy.jpg" data-mid="218470392" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/22a67c0167510eeacecc562f8caec98a34a2f1883983dfd22f058048b92cf42c/kompressor-5-copy.jpg" />KOMPRESSOR (2010)Installation view at Makan Art Space in Amman, Jordan.4 x (70 x 90 cm)Metal, carpaint, and plastic lettering. Kompressor features waxed down strips of car body metal in the colors of the flag of the Arab Revolt, with sections of the Mercedes-Benz ‘kompressor’ logo affixed to each. This piece explores intersections between enlightened absolutism and badges used by Mercedes-Benz for their supercharged engines. JORDAN CUCUMBER <img width="2857" height="3673" width_o="2857" height_o="3673" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7ba45990cca8c4eaccc0dfbd59f8145a89d81d1ba2aa35534bbe0c936ab23df6/51-Poster-3_100x77-copy.jpeg" data-mid="218470395" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7ba45990cca8c4eaccc0dfbd59f8145a89d81d1ba2aa35534bbe0c936ab23df6/51-Poster-3_100x77-copy.jpeg" />Jordan Cucumber Poster (2010)Acrylic paint and tape on fresh cucumbers.24 x (12 x 3 cm) ‘The Jordan Option’ refers to a situation by which Palestinians are forced to migrate to Jordan in order to acquire freedom as citizens. Khalid Mishal, a leader of Hamas jokingly dubbed this situation the ‘Jordan cucumber’ since the Arabic word ‘khiyar’ translates as both ‘option’ and ‘cucumber.’ This wordplay becomes the starting point for the Jordan Cucumber project. It consists of painted rotting cucumbers, a translucent greenhouse, and a video. The cucumbers were made during a residency at Makan Art Space in Amman, Jordan in 2010. https://tombogaert.org/NEW-YORK-CITY Wed, 22 Nov 2023 17:37:37 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/NEW-YORK-CITY NEW YORK CITY From 2004 to 2010 Tom Bogaert participated in the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Studio Program in Manhattan. He studied at NYU and participated in several group exhibitions in the city and beyond. Bogaert had a solo show in 2008 at ‘Jack the Pelican Presents’ gallery in Brooklyn and moved to Amman, Jordan soon thereafter. PISO MOJADO <img width="2240" height="1571" width_o="2240" height_o="1571" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b8b7f5e0e948e9523acae04ac4c20297cf5d9d178e6ed1579209f98bb8da5cd/Piso-Mojado-para-Dumbo-1.jpeg" data-mid="197730125" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b8b7f5e0e948e9523acae04ac4c20297cf5d9d178e6ed1579209f98bb8da5cd/Piso-Mojado-para-Dumbo-1.jpeg" /> Piso Mojado (2009)In the East River for the Dumbo Arts Festival in Brooklyn, NY. <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6d4d641a2a54c9b00ad47062c058a494fa42a51925e38de8761c5226ceb185b7/piso-mojado-por-miami-3---view-west.JPG" data-mid="197730024" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6d4d641a2a54c9b00ad47062c058a494fa42a51925e38de8761c5226ceb185b7/piso-mojado-por-miami-3---view-west.JPG" /><img width="2590" height="1726" width_o="2590" height_o="1726" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/64289eafd207549cf253bbca199094e8c007584ce3ac1c3b8b9b5669f7a67527/miami-beach-piso-dark-2.jpg" data-mid="197611305" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/64289eafd207549cf253bbca199094e8c007584ce3ac1c3b8b9b5669f7a67527/miami-beach-piso-dark-2.jpg" /> Piso Mojado (2009)In Miami Beach, FL. The ‘Piso Mojado’ series is a succession of performances in which Tom Bogaert mounts a yellow multi-lingual safety cone onto a mooring buoy. The buoy travels to varying bodies of water. As of yet, Bogaert installed Piso Mojados in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Belgium, Miami, Gaza, and Jordan. The Piso Mojado piece functions as an ‘open’ work with no specific meaning imposed. This allows the interpretation of the work to change with it’s content, which is fluid and changes with time, context and audience. For example, in Miami the buoy was interpreted as a comment on the ‘Wet Feet, Dry Feet Policy’: a Cuban citizen, who is caught on the waters between Cuba and the United States (i.e.’wet floor’), would summarily be sent home or to a third country. One who makes it to shore (‘dry floor’) gets a chance to remain in the US. EMPIRE STATE-BUILDING<img width="1920" height="1440" width_o="1920" height_o="1440" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b4e368772119a3a8086f535f7bd9e8c719e680293343c687bdabd14b8e986d2c/e-book-cover-mockup-template-over-transparent-background-a9862.png" data-mid="197611301" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b4e368772119a3a8086f535f7bd9e8c719e680293343c687bdabd14b8e986d2c/e-book-cover-mockup-template-over-transparent-background-a9862.png" />‘Empire state-building’ is built around a paper Tom Bogaert wrote for New York University in 2008, ‘From Empire state-building to Solid state-building: What types of lessons has the international community learned from past operations that can be applied to future state-building operations?’ CANARY SPACE SHIP <img width="1440" height="1080" width_o="1440" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8782738a53a59536709c50b13317bb148ce8c471162cce755b897d1503ce35fb/Bogaert_Tom-Canary-Space-Ship-2---1.jpg" data-mid="197611306" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8782738a53a59536709c50b13317bb148ce8c471162cce755b897d1503ce35fb/Bogaert_Tom-Canary-Space-Ship-2---1.jpg" /> <img width="3309" height="2303" width_o="3309" height_o="2303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2259a9f4afb48b74fb064e6f947bc42b5ccbd3fdfcd2b991ae125b3d809f4f6a/DSCN2796-copy.jpeg" data-mid="197611307" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2259a9f4afb48b74fb064e6f947bc42b5ccbd3fdfcd2b991ae125b3d809f4f6a/DSCN2796-copy.jpeg" /> Canary Space Ship (2007)At the Deitch Projects / Creative Time Art Parade in NYC . ‘Canary Space Ship’ is a complex of pre-used birdcages, connected by wire, glue, tape and wool. Inside the complex are three live canaries. Each bird is tagged with an aluminum band featuring Tom Bogaert’s studio address. This precaution must be taken in case the Space Ship is captured by extraterrestrials. TROJAN TART <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/efca85082212fe67fabf7f2897ea68d15217c75a31a842897eb2f97cb02bba1d/installation-view-copy.jpg" data-mid="197611302" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/efca85082212fe67fabf7f2897ea68d15217c75a31a842897eb2f97cb02bba1d/installation-view-copy.jpg" /> Trojan Tart (2006)Installation view Bronx River Art Center. <img width="2000" height="1500" width_o="2000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a87451deef264aabe0ebc8188303ebe6bec8f3be36dc13eec827ed8a5bda17e/Detonation-Device.jpg" data-mid="197730580" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a87451deef264aabe0ebc8188303ebe6bec8f3be36dc13eec827ed8a5bda17e/Detonation-Device.jpg" /> Trojan Tart (2006) Cellphone-based detonation device. ‘Trojan Tart’ is about an American artist who claims responsibility for an act of terrorism in a farewell video. &nbsp;Earlier, she had built a gigantic decorated cake at an abandoned riverside landfill in Queens, NY and filled it with explosives. Her plan fails, she is arrested and executed two months later. The cake is destroyed and her art studio becomes a popular place of pilgrimage. DOUBLE PORTRAITS <img width="2131" height="1421" width_o="2131" height_o="1421" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7501becfd937ebf5077a7f6a38baf5eb1cc7e0af3c0b92d59a04bbc8577ee2cb/6664616_double-portraits-New-York-City-2005.jpg" data-mid="197611304" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7501becfd937ebf5077a7f6a38baf5eb1cc7e0af3c0b92d59a04bbc8577ee2cb/6664616_double-portraits-New-York-City-2005.jpg" /> Double Portraits (2005)Performance. Based on religious sticker stamps, which Tom Bogaert bought in the church shop of the ‘Monastery of the Magnificat of the Mother of God’ in Quebec, Bogaert created portraits of contemporary icons. Seated at a lemonade stand, the artist invited bystanders to witness the stamp transformations and gave the public the opportunity to buy the original stickers and new icons for 25 cents each. JACK THE PELICAN PRESENTS <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/09f0700c9a337be3b527ed3ab799a59918507a9a3f4ca331a57dc8c2474508b7/jack-the-pelican-218-copy.jpg" data-mid="197611300" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/09f0700c9a337be3b527ed3ab799a59918507a9a3f4ca331a57dc8c2474508b7/jack-the-pelican-218-copy.jpg" /> Jack the Pelican Presents (2002 - 2010) 487 Driggs Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Besides his studio at the Elizabeth Foundation in Manhattan, Jack the Pelican Presents gallery in Brooklyn was Tom Bogaert's second home in New York. The artist had a solo show there in 2008 and eventually Tom Bogaert and the gallery owner Don Carroll became friends for life. https://tombogaert.org/RWANDA Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:43:34 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/RWANDA THIS IS RWANDAIn 1994, from April to July, eight hundred thousand Rwandans were slaughtered by ethnic Hutu extremists. The Rwandan genocide was eceptional in its brutality, in its speed, and in the meticulous organization with which Hutus set out to destroy the Tutsi minority. Between 1996 and 1997 Tom Bogaert documented the aftermath of this genocide on behalf of the UN Refugee Agency as a Junior Professional Officer sponsored by the Belgian Government. ‘This is Rwanda’ is an ongoing art project that examines a response to the genocide that exceeds the rationality of official state- and multilateral organizations. At the time of writing, ‘This is Rwanda’ consists of video, sculpture, sound, and performance. <img width="1612" height="1612" width_o="1612" height_o="1612" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/477e78ad796fedbcd511eced432d2bf3960b02397a6a2c71851c3fc1339fb210/chase-1.jpg" data-mid="244151610" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/477e78ad796fedbcd511eced432d2bf3960b02397a6a2c71851c3fc1339fb210/chase-1.jpg" /> Colour your Way (2022)Screenshot from re-ennactment video. Low production re-enactment of the 1994 Bronco chase in which O.J. Simpson led police in a low speed chase on a Los Angeles freeway. Filmed from the back of a moto-taxi in Kigali, Rwanda. <img width="1280" height="1920" width_o="1280" height_o="1920" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/54f3d41b972e3d8f487b2e7c24c4f6bc556f10b107b1a67d0d76a2053314a46d/Het_VoorstelHR_037-copy.jpg" data-mid="244151614" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/54f3d41b972e3d8f487b2e7c24c4f6bc556f10b107b1a67d0d76a2053314a46d/Het_VoorstelHR_037-copy.jpg" /> Visit Rwanda (2021)Installation view CC De Steiger in Menen, Belgium. <img width="3024" height="3024" width_o="3024" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c8b90acb6bee4e6dac8ab4b0d4ea43fd10e75c1a47601145574d83e1f1dc5728/Tshirts.jpg" data-mid="244151612" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c8b90acb6bee4e6dac8ab4b0d4ea43fd10e75c1a47601145574d83e1f1dc5728/Tshirts.jpg" /> Time (2019)16 personalized football shirts. On the occasion of the 25th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, Tom Bogaert was invited by Ivuka Arts in the capital Kigali for a solo exhibition of new work. During his&nbsp;time in Rwanda in 2019,&nbsp;the artist&nbsp;made a series of personalized soccer shirts that represent a rudimentary timeline of Rwanda’s recent history. The T-shirt project is inspired by the Rwanda Development Board £30 million deal to sponsor U.K.’s Arsenal Football Club: the team’s kit now bears the ‘Visit Rwanda’ logo on its left sleeve. <img width="1512" height="2017" width_o="1512" height_o="2017" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f15643aa848cec035deba89b3b0acae4d1271174c4776328d4312bcc4d8aeb34/plaine-2.jpg" data-mid="244151613" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f15643aa848cec035deba89b3b0acae4d1271174c4776328d4312bcc4d8aeb34/plaine-2.jpg" /> Plaine au Mille Souris (2009)Rubber and steel.80 x 100 cm. Plaine au Mille Souris (This is not Rwanda) rejects Malthusian theories stating that the 1994 Rwanda genocide was the preordained result of the impersonal forces of poverty and overpopulation. The mice that overpopulate the picture plane are cast from the licorice candy that is distinct to Belgium and acknowledges Europe’s disastrous influence in African affairs. In 1798 Thomas Malthus declared that “If there are too many people and not enough food, then, certainly, there are going to be problems […] as nature has a natural way to cut population levels: crime, disease, war, and vice”. The following is an extract from a report by Human Rights Watch about the genocide in Rwanda: “The sweetly sickening odor of decomposing bodies hung over many parts of Rwanda in 1994 […] at least half a million people perished […] this genocide was not an uncontrollable outburst of rage by a people consumed by ‘ancient tribal hatreds.’ Nor was it the preordained result of the impersonal forces of poverty and over-population […] This genocide resulted from the deliberate choice of a modern elite to foster hatred and fear to keep itself in power.” <img width="2592" height="1944" width_o="2592" height_o="1944" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1cdba9583ebfaa0777880f702aed76622a4fd2c57b9a752d19845b77fc1a0259/tb_colline-au-mille-souris_03.jpg" data-mid="244151609" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1cdba9583ebfaa0777880f702aed76622a4fd2c57b9a752d19845b77fc1a0259/tb_colline-au-mille-souris_03.jpg" /> Colline au Mille Souris (2008)Installation view Real Art Ways in Hartford CT, US.Candy and glue.200 x 150 x 150 cm. Black Noise (2008)Sound installation. A vinyl record is covered in black licorice mice. As the needle bumps along over their backs, it generates a rhythmic pounding, reminiscent of tribal drumming and machine guns. During the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, the extremist radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines used terms such as ‘swarming’ and ‘infestation’ to motivate Hutu killers. Accompanied by a lively mix of entertainment and pop music, death tallies were read out like sports scores. Black Noise is the technical term for silence. <img width="2157" height="2677" width_o="2157" height_o="2677" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9be0aee9bb9fc4549a4bc118a7c0ca460457f14a7868f9522c9b9b19225e131e/13-TIR-bis.jpeg" data-mid="244151608" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9be0aee9bb9fc4549a4bc118a7c0ca460457f14a7868f9522c9b9b19225e131e/13-TIR-bis.jpeg" /> This is Rwanda (2004), Video 05:42 A short experimental video in which Tom Bogaert embedded footage of the genocide into the interface of a computer game. The film had its world premiere at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The film can be viewed on request. <img width="2461" height="2461" width_o="2461" height_o="2461" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9be13df6022140862a0f9853c6a4c4870bc971d72e13afcc5f81e6d712dc55e8/MACHETE-2004-Tom-Bogaert.jpg" data-mid="244151615" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9be13df6022140862a0f9853c6a4c4870bc971d72e13afcc5f81e6d712dc55e8/MACHETE-2004-Tom-Bogaert.jpg" /> Machete (2004) Machete mounted on a Star Wars light saber handle. 67 x 8 x 5 cm. Prop Bogaert used to make the 'This is Rwanda' video. https://tombogaert.org/Project-Nav Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:36:18 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/Project-Nav Index &nbsp; Next︎ &nbsp; https://tombogaert.org/Homepage Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:36:18 +0000 Tom Bogaert https://tombogaert.org/Homepage