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".

Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков

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Italian School / Італійська школа, 2001

Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков

Photography , (x9)

Italian School consists of a number of staged photographs which depict performances of biblical scenes, enacted by children living in a youth detention centre. The children are surrounded by symbols unfamiliar to them, and through their ignorance, seem to be victims of the game. Both the strong contrasts between light and dark and the theatricality of the pictures subtly refer to the work of Italian baroque painter Caravaggio (1571-1610). Caravaggio made use of chiaroscuro and had homeless city dwellers model for the biblical figures on his paintings— not unlike Bratkov did for Italian School.

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