Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.

Patrick van Caeckenbergh, BE

At the Natural History Museum, the Belgian artist installed The Paintbrush of Smells, the first part of a series titled I talked to quadrupeds, birds and fishes. In his installation the artist brought together hundreds of photographs of human skin culled from pornographic magazines over the past few years. Almost all the distinguishable bodily features had been left out, and only the provocative and sensual aspects were discernible.