Caveat is a collective research project initiated by Jubilee, reflecting and acting on the ecology of artistic practice. Emptor continues along the methodology and efforts of Caveat. It actively applies the practice-based approach to 'property', a concept that highly defines the economy of visual arts.

Ghent: How to Live Together with Grace Ndiritu

Kanal K1

The province of East Flanders and Woningnet announced plans to sell its part of the building complex of Het Pand and Kunsthal Gent. Grace Ndiritu, together with Jubilee's and Caveat's legal specialist, immersed herself in the history of the former monastery and its users. The collected material can be seen at Kunsthal throughout this autumn and will keep growing.

Ghent: How to Live Together
A Season of Truth and Reconciliation

Last year the Province of East Flanders and Woningent announced plans to sell its part of the building complex of Het Pand and Kunsthal Gent. Grace Ndiritu, together with Jubilee's and Caveat's legal specialist, immersed herself in the history of the former monastery and its (historic and current) users. The collected material can be seen at Kunsthal throughout this autumn and will keep growing.

There have been different points in history in which inhabitants have used the space as a place for living, spiritual practice and sharing intellectual and artistic ideas; particularly in the 15th century, the 1970s and in the present day form of Kunsthal Ghent and the Pandemisten occupation. Archive material from all these periods can be seen in Kunsthal Gent throughout this autumn and will keep growing.

Group of protesters at the Aboriginal land rights demonstration, Parliament House, Canberra, 30 July 1972

From 7 september onwards, Grace Ndiritu is organising a series of activities at Kunsthal Gent around her research. The aim is to find a peaceful resolution to the situation that has been building, in the framework of a Truth and Reconciliation process. Furthermore, the artist is examining how the site of the former Caermersklooster, where the interests of the different people and institutions who use or own the site are in conflict, can serve as a model for the practice of commoning.

Events are free (except the screening with Art Cinema OFFoff) but limited in numbers. Please register in advance via the link at Kunsthal Gent.

Ghent: How To Live Together, is a project in the framework of Kunsthal Gent Development Program, in collaboration with Caveat, Jubilee's collective research project into the ecology of artistic practice. It is part of Ndiritu's ongoing body of work Healing The Museum.

Programme September - December

Tuesday 7th September - 7pm to 9.30pm (please register)
A Therapeutic Townhall Meeting (ENG)
In this playful performance, Grace Ndiritu will use meditation, letter writing and word-play to collectively unpack what the Truth and Reconciliation process means in the context of the ongoing dispute over the Caermersklooster site. More information here

Monday 25th October - 8pm to 10.30pm
Contested land and Indigenous land rights (NL & ENG)
Screening by OFFoff Art Cinema, curated by Grace Ndiritu and Jubilee
More information here

Godelieve Van Geertruyen, In ‘t Patershol, 1973-79. Film still

Tuesday 2nd November - 7pm to 9pm
Local Knowledge (NL & ENG)
A fascinating talk by local residents sharing their personal archives and stories of living in Patershol.
More information here

Thursday 25th November - 7pm to 9pm
Holistic Reading room (ENG)
Group reading of excerpts from Giorgio Agamben's philosophical book on the law of living together - The Highest Poverty: Monastic Rules and Form-of-Life (2011), which brings us back to the earliest habitation of the Caemersklooster and investigates the dialectic between rule and life. The reading will be interspersed by silent meditation breaks led by Grace Ndiritu, and contextualized by the research on previous uses of the building, 'the archive' currently at view at Kunsthal. Event is free but limited in numbers. Register here

Grace Ndiritu, Gent: How To Live Together, 2021. Installation of ongoing archival research in collaboration with Jubilee. Photo: Grace Ndiritu

Friday 10th December - 7pm to 10pm
Public Debate: Commoning, Property Law and Indigenous Land Rights in the Belgian Context (ENG)
A public debate with Prof. Marie-Sophie De Clippele VUB, historian Rafaël Verbuyst UG and social urban planner Jorik De Wilde UG - about Commoning, the indigenous perspective on shared resources and the development of cultural heritage sites globally. What can Ghent learn from this in relation to the history and social planning of the Patershol up to the present day and the sale of Het Pand? Artist Grace Ndiritu will moderate. Register here