PROJECT

Jeanne

Jeanne is an exhibition which becomes a performance which becomes an exhibition. The project is about Jeanne Walschot, a Belgian collector and seller of African art who opened a shop in Brussels during the ’20s. Jeanne unfolds Ms. Walschot’s life through a series of intertwined scenes focused on her strategies of self-representation in private and public spaces, her love for ‘exotic’ objects, and the relationship with her mysterious family tree.

Jeanne explores and deconstructs her persona, while also questioning the European gaze toward ‘other cultures’, on the border between genuine appreciation and fetishization.

During the residency at wpZimmer Simone Basani will work on the dramaturgy of Jeanne, in collaboration with Maïte Álvarez and Roger Fähndrich.

Simone Basani

BE, IT

Simone Basani (IT/BE) is an artist, performer and independent researcher. He studied Visual Arts at IUAV University in Venice (IT), Community Drama at CRT- Research Centre in Milan (IT), and Theatre Studies at KASK in Ghent (BE). His research focuses on remembrance processes, historical forgetting and representation of mourning. By developing his personal research approach to such topics, he aims to challenge the functioning of heteronormative and colonial gaze, especially the European one. His works have been presented both in museum spaces and theaters: Fortuny Museum - Venice, ŁAŹNIA CCA - Gdańsk, Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi - Venice, Villa Empain - Brussels, Vooruit - Ghent and others.

Credits

concept & dramaturgy: Simone Basani◊curatorship: Alice Ciresola◊artistic collaborations: Maïte Álvarez, Doris Boerman, Roger Fähndrich, among others.◊co-production: C-Takt◊residencies: BUDA & wpZimmer◊with the support of: The Royal Museum for Central Africa (Tervuren)