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".

Eerste verdieping | First Floor

(c)image: M HKA
Exodus, 2009-2009
Video , 00:11:00
video, flatscreen

Almagul Menlibayeva's film EXODUS was shot in Karaganda in the centre of Kazakhstan. The film shows a glimpse of a community of nomads, who, following their gathering, prepare to depart. This departure is interrupted, however, by two women resolutely traversing the lonely steppe. However, the film ends with a departure en masse: a caravan of people, cars, lorries and horses slowly begin trailing their way towards the horizon. Menlibayevas’ film provides us with a portrait of a culture torn between age-old tradition and an existence in a globalised world. Both poetic and melancholy, the film illustrates the quest for identity and a departure for an uncertain future.