Anamnesis

M HKA–Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp

14.05.22 – 21.08.22

Curated by Joana Zielińska

The term anamnesis refers to the idea of recalling moments from a previous existence. Our memory works in a non-linear manner, reproducing seemingly irrelevant passages and deeply concealed fragments. French philosopher Roland Barthes defines the phenomenon of anamnesis as ‘the action performed by the subject in order to recover, without magnifying or sentimentalising it, a tenuity of memory: it is the haiku itself’.

One of the central themes in Anamnesis is the notion of levitation, which is explored in the physical sense and also as a psychological state of mind. The exhibition consists of different constellations of artworks and ‘primary forms’ that are conceptually interconnected. The works reclaim time as they simultaneously alter our perception and bodily experience within the exhibition space.

Kiswanson has developed a new performance together with a Belgian-Moroccan boy named Mehdi Ben Ayad, with whom he previously collaborated in the film The Fall (2020). In the performance, the artist’s most recent poetry book The Window (2022) becomes part of a script written in four acts performed in different languages. The texts relate to sensorial states and existential explorations of the human condition.