The exhibition project Middle Gate II – The Story of Dymphna is a collaboration between M HKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp) and the cultural centre de Werft in Geel. Middle Gate II is the follow up to the exhibition Middle Gate, curated by Jan Hoet in Geel in 2013. The exhibition concept is closely tied to the legend of the holy Dymphna, saint of the possessed, the mentally ill and patroness against epilepsy and insanity. The legend of Dymphna shares a strong connection to the identity of Geel, "the charitable city".

Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven / AMVK

(c)image: AMVK
Welfare State, 1995-2005
Mixed Media , 2 x (11 x 165.5 cm)
paint and felt tip on PVC

Although they are made twenty years apart, Unic (1995) and Carrefour (2015) form a diptych of sorts. On 4 September 1995, AMVK bought some basic produce from her local supermarket, blew up the receipt and turned it into a painting. Now she repeats the same act, making visible the changed state of welfare: a new chain, a new currency, a new ratio of nature to mortality (the food) and to freedom (its price).