Ignace Wouters

Ignace Wouters – Droomland Buda, 2024

• Emmanuellaan – Nieuwbrugstraat, Machelen
• Bushalte Diegemstraat, Vilvoorde
• The Corner, Machelen

Droomland Buda consists of several artistic propositions that will unfold throughout the duration of Border Buda. The central motif of the project is an ambiguous depiction of a worker (or a knight, possibly a witch) by Italian artist Mario Mariotti which appeared in 1964 in the Marxist magazine Classe Operaia. This mysterious figure, both combative and haunting, pays homage to the social struggle of the past and present workers of Buda. It looms over the area from the facade of the former Renault factory and recurs in each of the artists’ interventions.The worker-figure’s placement and materiality, reminiscent of the signboards adorning the walls of Buda’s factories and businesses, is representative of the overall tactic of Droomland Buda. By mimicking the aesthetic strategies that are already present within the confines of the industrial zone, Ignace Wouters playfully subverts existing visual regimes. Making manoeuvres within the enemy’s field of vision, his interventions critically tackle concepts like memory, forgetfulness, and history, inviting the visitor to reflect on the capitalist forces that both shaped and ruined the area and consider what was lost and what was gained.

The second intervention can be found at The Corner, a café frequented by those who work or pass by Buda, seeking food, drinks and respite from labour. Throughout Border Buda, meals at The Corner will be served on a series of disposable placemats designed by Ignace Wouters, incorporating references to Buda’s industrial past and future. The third intervention consists of a reissue of a selection of articles by local historian Ludo Jappens. These texts, which were originally published in the regional history magazine Machala, reflect on the historical importance of Buda through a series of well researched micro-histories. For the occasion Wouters has reimagined the shape of Jappens’ writings in the form of a limited edition goodie bag. It will be presented on the opening weekend and distributed near the end of Border Buda via a lottery open to all visitors. Finally, a series of posters tampering with the routine circulation of visual information will appear sporadically on the billboards on Schaarbeeklei, close to the bus stop Diegemstraat.

About

Ignace Wouters was born in Genk in 1992 and lives in Brussels. Before deciding to become an artist he studied art history. When we asked him for an introductory text to publish on our website, he sent us the following: “When playing the role of artist I like to interrogate situations and conventions. In my work certain themes keep reappearing: visual identity (how is our world shaped and produced?), history (how does our perception of the past contribute to our view of the present?), humor (which joke allows us to see reality better?) and criticism (which assumptions are worth challenging?).”