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".

Els Dietvorst

(c)Els Dietvorst
Swallow Landscape [Zwaluwenlandschap], 2019
Video , 00:40:00
mini DV (colour, sound)

During the project The Return of the Swallows, Els Dietvorst investigates the 'roots' of the Anneessens neighbourhood in Brussels and its inhabitants for four years. It's a search for individual and collective creation. People from Brussels with different cultural and social backgrounds depict their life experiences using a variety of artistic media. In the next phase of the project, they transcend these realities, incorporating and performing various imagined personalities. Their improvisations, life stories and emotions are woven together into an impressionistic sketch: Zwaluwenlandschap (Swallows Landscape).