Festive opening Two Sides of the Same Coin

We would love to invite you to the opening of the exhibition Two Sides of the Same Coin on 18 January 2025. During this festive opening event, you can visit the exhibition for free all day and attend a special programme.

Please note: there are limited places for some programme elements, please register separately via the links in the programme below.

Programme

• 11:00 Exhibition open
• 13:15 Walk-in opening
• 13:30 Welcome speech by Van Abbemuseum director Charles Esche and curator Hicham Khalidi in the auditorium.
• 14:00 - 16:00 Special Children's Art Club in the classroom (register via this link)
• 14:00 - 17:00 Roundtable discussion with Madame Dominique Thibaux (great-niece Maximilien Balot), Endy Ezeluomba (curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), Cedart Tamasala, Matthieu Kasiama, Mbuku Kimpala of CATPC and Renzo Martens (Human Activities) moderated by Hicham Khalidi in the auditorium. With a short break at 15:00. (register up via this link).
• 17:00 Start drinks Van Abbe café.
• 18:00 End of the day.

Free guided tours

These short 30-minute tours (in Dutch and English) start at 14:30, 15:00, 15:30 and 16:00. You can sign up for these during the opening at the museum at the information desk. Full = full.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Members of the Congolese artists' collective Cercle d'Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) live on a plantation in Lusanga. Land taken possession by western multinationals and also depleted by them. Clay is extracted from this depleted soil, which forms the basis for CATPC's sculptures. These sculptures are exhibited and sold all over the world. With the proceeds, CATPC buys back land and tries to restore local biodiversity by planting various trees. In 2024, CATPC's work was on display in the Dutch pavilion at the Venice Biennale. By the end of 2024, the collective's art travelled on to the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. There, visitors will experience sculptures, drawings, textile works and video installations by the Congolese collective, placed among artworks from the museum's collection. The exhibition Two Sides of the Same Coin, on view from 21 December 2024 to 2 March 2025, guides us through stories of colonisation, land regeneration and the place given to art from Congolese plantations in the art world. With the aim: a fairer distribution of recognition and wealth.