Middle Gate

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".

Artūras Raila

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(c)Artūras Raila

Libretto for Maersk McKinney Moeller , 2015

Artūras Raila

Video , 8 x (00:00:10)

8 animated films, digital black-and-white video, silent, in loop

Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller (1913–2012) was Denmark’s wealthiest person. The shipping magnate spent the equivalent of 310 million euros on building the new opera house in Copenhagen, and donated it to the Danish people. Raila was in Copenhagen at the time of Mc-Kinney Møller’s funeral, and snapped a photograph of the people on either side of the security cordon. He has written a synopsis for a libretto that he may or may not turn into an opera about his encounter with the spirit of the deceased philanthropist. For now, he exhibits it as a wall-text and eight short animated films that incorporate his drawings of the script’s ten scenes.

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