Chantal Akerman Exhibit Comes to Bozar This Month

From March 14 to July 21, 2024, Bozar, in collaboration with CINEMATEK and the Fondation Chantal Akerman, will present an exhibition dedicated to the Belgian filmmaker, writer, and artist Chantal Akerman (Brussels 1950 - Paris 2015). “Chantal Akerman: Travelling" outlines her unique journey from the early beginnings in Brussels to various deserts, from her first films to her final installations in 2015. Featuring unique and previously unseen footage, production, as well as work documents from her archives, this is the first major retrospective of the Brussels-based artist.

The exhibition traces the various stages of Chantal Akerman's career and also sheds light on the different locations where she has worked and filmed. It also showcases the versatility of her work, including film, television, literature, and installations.
 

"Chantal Akerman: Travelling" spans over 1,000 m2 and twelve exhibition rooms in the heart of the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (Royal Circuit). Visitors will discover 7 artistic installations brought together for the first time (including Now, showcased at the Venice Biennale, and Voice in the Desert at Documenta); never-before-seen rushes (including those from Hanging Out Yonkers); exceptional audiovisual material and paper archives of the Paradise Films production company, which forms the main archive collection of the Fondation Chantal Akerman (photos of shoots, scripts, dialogues, location scouting photos, statements of intent, etc.); 4 short films; 2 feature films (Saute ma ville; Les Années 80); 5 television films (Family Business; Le Marteau; Rue Mallet Stevens; Dis-moi; La Paresse); and 1 previously unreleased Super 8 film.

The exhibition happily embraces the ‘living matter’ that eludes linear narrative. The many crew photographs taken from the archives of the Fondation Chantal Akerman testify, down to the discoloration of the paper, to the succession of eras and to the evolution in the economic conditions of production and in the artist’s very works, which have graduated over time from the status of ‘little films’ to feature-length films, or from documentaries to installations in the museum space. [quote from the publication]

From the burlesque to the tragic, from musicals to personal suffering and that of the world, from the bedroom to the desert. The bio-filmography, animated by quotes from the filmmaker, traces the general timeline of these multiple journeys. It documents her reflections on cinema and her working processes, linking her presented works with their accompanying archives. It also demonstrates how her radical and poetic work closely resonates with our time. 

Born in Brussels in 1950, Chantal Akerman was one of the first filmmakers to regularly use this city – the place of her birth and the very fabric of her work – as a film city in its own right, rather than just a passing backdrop.

Today, Akerman is regarded as an inspiration for all generations and a role model for many filmmakers and artists. Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Claire Denis, Christophe Honoré, Sharon Lockhart, Wang Bing and Michael Haneke have often pointed out the influence Akerman has had on their work. Furthermore, her film "Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" was named the best film of all time by Sight and Sound (the magazine of the prestigious British Film Institute) in 2022.

The curators of this exhibition are Laurence Rassel, in collaboration with Céline Brouwez(Fondation Chantal Akerman/CINEMATEK) and Alberta Sessa (Bozar).