Kempen is a distortion of the word Campina, Latin for open plain. The Kempen was long known as a barren and poor no man's land. Its typical sandy soil was infertile and difficult to cultivate. The Kempen then consisted mainly of gigantic moors and sand. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the Kempen was colonized and the reclamation of the wasteland began.
The sandy soil largely determined the development and uniqueness of the region. Due to the limited yield of the poor soil, farmers needed a lot of space and the farms and small hamlets were located far from each other.
In the 19th century, the unspoiled land of the Kempen captured the imagination of writers and artists. Writers such as Hendrik Conscience created a romanticized image of the old Kempen and its inhabitants: idyllic, pious, loyal, employed, sedentary ... Writers such as Hendrik Conscience created a romanticized image of the old Kempen and its inhabitants: idyllic, pious, loyal, employed, sedentary ... It also attracted Jakob Smits.
His themes such as landscape, religion and mysticism, mother and child, identity and heimat are very universal and still relevant. The exhibition ZANDGROND examines how these themes are still reflected in the visual arts today. In the Kempen, but also far beyond.
With works by Jakob Smits & Fred Bervoets, Helena Ceuppens, Jan Decleir, Ilse D’Hollander, Sam Dillemans, Yannick Ganseman, Ritsart Gobyn, Antoine Goossens, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Gideon Kiefer, Tom Liekens, Raymond Minnen, Fernand Naeyaert, Ria Pacquée, Ellen Schroven, Koen Sels, Enzo Smits, Fabrice Souvereyns, Batia Suter, Veerle Stevens, Tijdelijk Informatie Centrum – afdeling Mol, Luc Tuymans, Sven ’t Jolle, Greet Van Autgaerden, Jakob Van den Broucke, Bart Van der Moeren, Bart Van Dijck, Loïc Van Zeebroek, Nils Verkaeren, Tinus Vermeersch, Shirley Villavicencio Pizango, Leen Voet en Yasmine Willems
'Sandy soil' is a collaboration between Provinciaal Cultuurhuis de Warande, the Ronald Luyten/Jakob Smits Foundation and the Jakob Smits Museum.
