Jan Fabre: The Carnival of the Dead Streetdogs & The Catacombs of the Dead Streetdogs
Ljubljana is again hosting the internationally renowned Belgian multidisciplinary artist, playwright, stage director and choreographer Jan Fabre. Three venues operated by the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana are staging Fabre's exhibitions, presenting his multi-faceted oeuvre as a visual artist.
The exhibitions include installations, drawings and photographs of his performances, shot by some leading 20th century photographers such as Helmut Newton and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Fabre first visited Ljubljana back in 1984 as a new star of theatre, and later in 1989 as a visual artist with an exhibition at Moderna galerija. This time Fabre is visiting Ljubljana at the invitation of Zavod Exodos, and will serve as the curator of the 17th Exodos Festival. Fabre's work is shown in three venues operated by the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana: the City Art Gallery of Ljubljana presents The Borrowed Time exhibition, in the Tobacco 001 Cultural Centre is on display the Umbraculum installation, and at the Match Gallery are on view The Carnival of the Dead Streetdogs and The Catacombs of the Dead Streetdogs (for Ljubljana 2011) installations.
Jan Fabre’s current exhibitions aim to offer an insight into the interdisciplinary approaches and other links between contemporary visual art and theatre production. His extremely rich oeuvre in fields of the performing arts is presented to the Slovenian audience using a slightly different approach, focusing on the artist’s numerous documents and records, drawings and, in particular, photographs. Apart from his sketches and notes for stage plays, visitors are able to see works by notable masters of photography such as Helmut Newton and Robert Mapplethorpe. As suggested in the exhibition catalogue by Lilijana Stepančič, The Borrowed Time exhibition comprises photographs of Fabre's plays taken by the most outstanding photographers of the second half of the 20th century. "They represent a particular metamorphosis, with one medium passing into the other and the work of one artist becoming the oeuvre of the other. Umbraculum, The Carnival of the Dead Streetdogs and The Catacombs of the Dead Streetdogs are ambiental installations featuring a metamorphosis inviting the spectator to pass through a new experience which cannot be encountered in his/her everyday life."
As regards contemporary performing arts, Jan Fabre will appear within the framework of the 17th Exodus Festival and the 6th Balkan Dance Platform as a stage director, playwright, choreographer, stage designer and even as a selector and lecturer. Fabre will direct the spectacle Prometheus Landscape II (Cankarjev dom, 19 and 20 April), and Slovenska kinoteka will show a portion of Fabre’s artistic creation which might well be the least known to the Slovenian audience, i.e. film (15 April).
Colophon
Production: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana
Artist: Jan Fabre
Curator: Katrien Bruyneel
The project was made possible by: City of Ljubljana
Location
Trg francoske revolucije 7
1000 Ljubljana
T +386 1 24 12 590
T +386 1 24 12 500
E galerija.vzigalica@mgml.si
Opening hours
Tuesday–Sunday: 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Monday: Closed
1 January, 1 November, 25 December: Closed
24 and 31 December: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Tickets
Free entry.