Paradise Kortrijk 2021

Details

From 26 June to 24 October 2021 the second Kortrijk Triennial will take place: Paradise Kortrijk 2021.

Paradise Kortrijk 2021 is the successor to Play Kortrijk 2018, the interactive art event that transformed the city of Kortrijk three years ago into a playground of contemporary artworks at various indoor and outdoor locations in the city, and which was a real success with more than 175,000 visitors.

The second edition maintains the recipe for success - a dynamic and free urban exhibition with interactive works of art by an ambitious list of Belgian and international artists in various indoor and outdoor locations in the city of Kortrijk - and focuses on the utopian dream of paradise. The project draws inspiration from our zeitgeist and is a reaction to our current living environment, which sometimes seems miles away from a hopeful, positive and utopian environment.

“Our arts festival Paradise will attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to Kortrijk. As alderman for culture, I am convinced that we really have a bazooka here, one that will give our trade and hospitality industry new perspectives. It is the second edition of our triennial. Play, the first one, was a hit. Installations by the world’s best artists will be on display in the most surprising places in the city.”
- Alderman for Culture Axel Ronse

Curators Hilde Teerlinck (Han Nefkens Foundation) and Patrick Ronse (BePart, Platform for Contemporary Art) selected 32 contemporary artists - including 9 Belgians - who each present their own interpretation of the Paradise concept. Among the artists are many familiar names, such as Berlinde De Bruyckere, Jeremy Deller, Kendell Geers, Ugo Rondinone and Yoko Ono.
But Paradise 2021 also dares to push the boundaries of contemporary art and shows the work of fashion designer duo Viktor&Rolf, scenographer Albert Dubosq and choreographer William Forsythe, among others.

These artists are given the freedom to express a personal and critical view about how they see and interpret paradise. Artists have the power to engage us on a personal level and mirror our situation or condition, so that we can set our mind in motion and act differently.

The Kortrijk triennial invites these contemporary artists to participate and reflect on modern questions. What are meaningful values today and how can we construct a better society? By installing artworks in the heart of the dynamic city, the significance of the artists’ vision becomes present in public. The participative element is crucial in the project: through an active experience, interaction is activated by the visitor. Through this experience, the visitor is offered the opportunity to modify their way of thinking, both about themselves and about our current society.