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.

Ante Timmermans, BE

Site specific perfor(m)ative installation. Collection Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland

This work by Belgian artist Ante Timmermans reflected on the thousands of miners that once worked underground in the Waterschei mine. Part performance and part installation, the piece compared the claustrophobia of mine tunnels to the mental confinement of an office. Stacks of blank paper were piled on the racks, ready to be processed. The artist perforated page after page, sealing them with a variety of stamps and piling his cuttings in a heap that contrasted with a mountain made of coal.