As the swans arrive from Arctic Russia in wetlands of Belgium and early sunsets blind our windows, we give a new life to things of the past that have been around for decades or even centuries. In the very mid of October dozens of creative re-users gather in the small village of Geer (Province of Liege) to enjoy an eclectic mixture of eco-friendly artists, vendors, craftsmen, artisans, performers in a truly beautiful and historical setting of the 18th century “Chateau de l’Enclos”.
An oracle of scrap metal installations, which he himself defines as ‘post-apocalyptic kindersurprises’ Bart Dewolf; the father of ‘Lampofoons’ and other fascinating structures from unconventional materials such as old telephones, wood waste and different kinds of city junk Jeroen Boogaerts (Bodegaz); the creator of hand-modeled surrealist sculptures made out of old, discarded materials and objects Bart Vankrunkelsven; the lord of the whimsical brutalist-style rings and unforgettable pyro shows Rob van Bulck (Natix-Welding); an art lecturer and the founder of the centre for art and contemporary technology “Icon-Brussels” Ken Christiaens; a tea lover, tea writer and tea lecturer Kelly Meeus (Wulong.be); the chairman of the non-profit ‘244-Help een Hond’ and the creator of super-extraordinary ‘Rescue-D’ upcycled rubber bags Anuschka Theunissen; a veggie literary café ‘La Reduiste’ represented by its owners – a Holland-born Anthe Vrijlandt and a Belgian-Native Johan Deflander, a couple who spent almost two decades in Africa and settled finally in the book village of Redu; Peter Snijder – an artist-inventor who brings light into the dark side of this world: the master “buckles up LED’s, tie wraps and a soldering iron and uses these items to turn all sort of materials into illuminated constructions, which doubt even their own existence”; Marc Janssens will share with us his poetic dreamworld where man and object have become one: “with ceramic and pulverized materials he embroiders monsters that have escaped out of the caves of a centuries old ritual”; a jewellery maker An Leesen will exhibit and sell the variety of ornaments made of (semi) precious stones, ceramics, glass and imitation pearls; artisanal craft pottery will be represented by “Creafa Poterie”; upcycled lamps, candles and jewellery made by “Ivan Valerio Art Fashion Design”; a Belgium-based artist of Chinese background Kun Fang will unveil her dramatic paintings “Panda Language series” (Red Black and White).
Sounds inspiring, right?
The Conscienza festival is only two months away.
There will be regular updates on the festival’s facebook page with lots of information about the event: interviews with participants, updates on new exhibitors and artists, the Conscienza program, practicalities, and generally thoughts about anything and everything eco-upcycling-recycling-re-use-related.
If you’d like to see a list of the exhibitors confirmed so far with links to their portfolios, please, go to the website: http://conscienza.244-helpeenhond.eu/participants.aspx
