The Dreamer of the Forest, 2024

Zita de Aguirre, Shayli Harrison, Benji Jeffrey, Anaïs Maes, Paula Mambo, Wendy Onsea, Ferdinand Paimblanc, Lukas Rys, Ella Schöning, Joris Thoné, Floor Wyns

For The Dreamer of the Forest (2024), Paul Kindersley brings the ‘characters’ in the Middelheim collection to life. Together with other performers he puts himself in the shoes of artworks such as Madame Stone by Charles Despiaux or the Dreamer of the Forest by Ossip Zadkine. Then he adds other roles. 

The work comprises several parts. First, he built a spatial installation, for performers and audience alternately. Then, he wrote a script that is presented like a performance and filmed, and can also sometimes be seen live. 

Artistic disciplines and roles flow continuously from one to another. The video sculpture is a simultaneous performance, filmset and tableau vivant. Characters from art history blend into the present. All at once, the author is a scenographer, sculptor and costumier. 

Identical elements appear each time in different forms. For each performance the roles change, keeping the situation playful and free. The participants can improvise and inject their own story into the larger picture.
 

Number 29 on the map.