Close encounters of the fifth kind

Was all this foreseen? I overheard an artist talking last night at Kulter. She was wondering whether there was a theme to this exhibition called Close Encounters... She concluded it was about room, or giving room. About being stuck in your work, about trying to get out... But to get out, you have to leave the cage that you’ve grown accustomed to, behind.

The rooms that were created seemed to represent the state of the artist at this point. The amorph creature in the painting of Willem van der Weide, looking to get out and find its definitive form. The second skin portraits of Kyoko Inatome, in which she pushes the boundaries and the boundaries push back. Or the little birds by Panos Mitsopoulos, stuffed up in a cage, both estranged and obvious: very confident work.

As we almost lost grip, we were treated to an oriental belly dancer. Or as it turned out an Italian belly dancer. 60 people standing in a ring and Natalia Bonanese  in the middle, creating room with her body.

Oh, and did I mention Bach, personal poetry, food and drinks?

At 20:30 we left the building, turned right, as Panos followed us outside: “Please look at my installation here.” Next to Kulter, the window was filled with tens of little mirrors, reflected by backlight. “I just put it here this afternoon, and I am going get them out again today.”

Kulter #05 was an encounter, maybe one that could lead to a long lasting friendship.