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On 12th February I was asked if I would be interested in taking part in an art festival in Antwerp-North. www.vernicage.be

That question came from Michael Lazic and it was he who informed me about the festival, which aimed to transform a majestic space in the old Stuivenberg bathhouse into an atmospheric art space incorporating various artistic disciplines from visual artists, like painting and drawing, photography and performances by people with limited abilities, trained by Michael for a performance: a ballet with a mirror (eternal symbol).Chinese Western theatre, music, variety and a performance by dervishes (which I once saw in Tunisia) would be on the bill.

From 21 April 2012 to 29 april you can admire my participation in the "Experimenteel Salon", organized by the Koninklijke Piet Stautkring, in Huize De Rop, Vrasenestraat 3, 9120 BEVEREN (B).

Vernissage Friday, April 20, 2012 at 20:00 h. Opening by Luc Grenne.

All the works on display here are the result of reflection. They want to encourage deeper consideration of the meaning, to make connections for oneself and to interpret the objects in all their aspects, or simply to feel and experience the whole.

In mid-February I was contacted by the Women’s Committee of the city of Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) as to whether I possibly had a work that could serve as an image for strong women on the International Women’s Day. I had three: a woman leading with a light in the darkness; a young woman as indignado, carried by men, screaming their dissatisfaction about the current injustice in society; and a woman that actually contains three, standing strong as she paints and supports two others: a triumvirate of strength.

Ultimately this free-form work was selected. For many women it was emotionally laden and several felt a connection with it, found it comforting or simply strong and placed it on their mantelpiece. The city used it for its poster, invitation and bookmark.

I took part in the lecture by A. Struyf, a journalist who describes the situations of women in Asia, Afghanistan and the Philippines. It is an extremely painful history for many, degrading, horrifying, worse off than animals. Still, you see dignified women, unbelievably resistant. You could not tell just by seeing them. They suffer alone, at night. She also portrays women with their own, self-willed plan, such as Imelda Marcos, consciously forging her own path. She had better luck.

Afterwards we dined together. It was exciting, for the first time solely among women and assisted by women: a special experience, crawling into the skin of what is commonplace for usually spoiled men.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVyCEe4Kr3M&list=UUiXuM93to-P_Z5y8JSW8-zw&index=1&feature=plcp

In the above youtube movie you will find small insight into my studio with the President of the Women's Council of Sint-Niklaas.

The lecture by Monica Van Paemel on March 8 about her book, Celestien, threw another light on a woman who sacrificed her entire life, the confidante of a family who threw her away like a dirty rag when she became old.

Gabriëlla Cleuren

In 2003, I was prompted to seek out the superbly original natural environment that Gauguin had depicted in his work to see if the same beauty was still in evidence in the region and in the villages and locations he had stayed and worked in at that time. The central point in all this was the town of Pont d’Aven where, at the end of the 19th century, a group of Americans arrived and went onto form a famous group. Given that, at that point, Brittany was completely closed off and had remained in a very original, isolated condition, it attracted a great many artists who even came from Paris.

I decided to explore the area and have to admit that it is still a fascinating region. Breton idiosyncrasies are still very much in evidence today and the surroundings are still peppered with desolate and unusual natural environments.

Given the fact that I found a house in the vicinity of a small, uninhabited island (the archipelago Les Iles de Glénan is not that far away) which was subject to the influence of the tides on a daily basis, I was able to find some quite unbelievable rock constructions, in every imaginable colour and size: rough and polished stones, coloured by moss and lichen, in a vast array of shapes and formations, which stimulated the imagination and forced a sense of creativity. The coves, rivulets, kelp formations, seeds, mussel banks and seaweed changed on a daily basis and I also photographed the exceptional, small plants in order to record them for posterity.

From March 15th until June 30th 2012 I will be exhibiting my series 'virtual worlds' at Espace Tendances gallery, 35 rue de l'Université in Liège(Belgium).

The exhibition illustrates great diversity in unity and unmistakable individuality, borne by human content, an evolution in my work over a ten-year period. Everything was painted from the memory of the spirit, reflecting and thinking and seeing in images of my own language, transposed, defined by a different visual approach: completely free, an attempt to capture the perfection of the imperfect, such as mankind. I call these virtual worlds. But these too are real. Every day peculiarities, feelings on the occasion of an event, confrontation or realisation are noted down.

These constitute the small delights of being free, enjoying peace and quiet, encounters with and marvelling about nature (the air, water, birds and animals), doubts, sadness and confusion, night-time reflections and confrontations with a different, other culture. In brief, all human aspects, which are contained in images? Do you recognise yourself in these images? Did you also have this experience? How would you depict it? It may require an effort to read, but that is precisely what makes this so fascinating.

At the invitation of the City of Monastir during the 9th edition of the Plastic Arts Festival.

It is now the third time that I am participating in the Plastic Arts Festival in Monastir. Following the official opening of the festival by the organizing committee on Sunday 11 September, a select group of artists (some forty in number from Russia, Turkey, the Ukraine, Canada, Germany, Poland, one from Italy and two from France) were received by the newly elected young city mayor, an occasion where the emphasis was placed especially on renewal of contact with the times and achievements of the former Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba, who hailed from Monastir. His office and working quarters were shown. This was followed by a photo op session with display of the Tunisian flag and a welcoming reception. The festivity concluded with a visit to the city, the medina, the ribat, and the Bourguiba Mausoleum. During the afternoon, works of local Tunisian artists were exhibited in the International Museum of Monastir near the Marina. It was striking how the artists had integrated the revolution into their oeuvres and thus fashioned comments on the events.

During an interview on National TV I, I was asked how I viewed the manner in which the Tunisian people had conducted their revolution, compared with the actions in other Arab states.

On Tuesday 13 September we were also taken on an excursion to Tunis, a quite unique city, hilly, and distinguished by its narrow picturesque streets and alleyways, colourful masterpieces of small access gates to pretty well every dwelling, white with cypresses breaking the horizontal and vertical angularity like so many feathers, and from the flat roofs always the view upon the untroubled azure sea.

Then a trip to Sidi Bou Said, a neighbourhood district risen in the vicinity of old Carthage, Nabeul, the Bardo Museum, a unique and beautiful museum distinguished by its exhibits of expressive, rare mosaics. During the afternoon, we visited the Kheireddine Palace (after a lengthy promenade criss-crossing the narrow streets of Tunis) in the presence of the Minister of Culture. The Museum displayed the works that had been exhibited in the course of the past sessions. The Kheireddine Palace rose from a square of distinct Andalusian character, Spanish but with an Arab touch.

The very concentrated hectic working days during which we mightily endeavoured to get our works in the right shape were invariably followed by evenings of musical entertainment and dance (I was struck by the agility of the rather hefty female dancers who rolled across the stage and effortlessly moved about in an archaic manner. Fat is very much in vogue here. One evening, a number of artists presented rare traditional Tunisian tunics, each creation introduced by a dance. In Western Europe, these heavily embroidered and elaborately decorated gold-brocade garments are now only used as ritual church vestments. The whole spectacle was splendid. Because of a severe storm, the visit by ship to the island of Kuriat was cancelled.

On 22 September, as a finale to our sojourn, we paid a visit to the City of Sousse with its mazes of souks: covered narrow streets. To conclude, our work was exhibited in the International Museum near the Marina in the presence of the Governor and delegation. He paused at every work and asked the artist to explain the meaning of the individual creation.

Because of the new road to be taken, I worked in the adjoining park with the palace and villas of Bourguiba as subjects, a type of architecture and structures such as Gerrit Rietveld’s in the sixties, but with the addition of Arabic elements, very European, very much representative of its time, but beautiful and elegant (albeit neglected). One of these buildings I used in my work as metaphor for a point of contact with their old, new, modern world. Likewise in my minor works I resorted to their own environment, the old stairs to the park, where only Tunisians prayed, as symbol for the open road towards old, new horizons. On that point, the thinker on his rock has not yet reached a conclusion.

G.Cleuren

Exhibition at Museum Zwijgershoek, Zwijgershoek 14 Sint-Niklaas - from 13.06 till 22.08.2010. For more info. click here...

'The idol'