May 25, 2019 till September 1, 2019

This summer, Kunsthal KAdE celebrates its tenth anniversary. It is a time to pause and reflect, before continuing to pursue Kunsthal KAdE’s mission: to make exhibitions in the (usually contemporary) visual arts field. As the Netherlands’ supreme poet, Joost van den Vondel, famously wrote in 1632, in this troubled world ‘Eternity goes before the moment’. The philosophy summed up in the line touches on a major aspect of art: the setting of a specific motif within an idea of universal relevance. The motto demands a medium with an unparalleled ability to isolate an individual moment in the vast continuum of time: that medium is video art.

For this year’s summer exhibition, Videoland, Kunsthal KAdE has selected 11 films that in some way balance the experience of a specific moment with a sense of eternity. The exhibition is based partly on a selection from the EKARD collection.

In 'Imagine Being There International' (2009), people in New York, Shanghai, Nairobi and Cairo are asked to describe their paradise in a few sentences. The point is the encounter with otherness, ‘the richness of the image and the delight of the moment, which is fleeting and sadly always too short’. The work was purchased to mark the opening of Kunsthal KAdE and displayed in the reception area of the original building.

Also visit the site of Kunsthal KAdE.