In collaboration with Mirjam Devriendt
Penthesilea, 2015

The in situ installation by Berlinde De Bruyckere (b.1964, Ghent) fills the large recess of the Peperbusse. Het vlot (The raft), as if swept along by the storm and stranded in the recess of the tower, refers to The Raft of the Medusa. Fragments of wax-cast hides and fabric, mounted on a rust coloured grille. Residual debris on the raft. Images, captured by photographer Mirjam Devriendt in collaboration with Berlinde De Bruyckere for the opera Penthesilea (De Munt, 2015), will be screened inside the Peperbusse. We see the raw activity in a tannery next to the abattoir in Anderlecht; the curing of the hides with salt, which are then stored on the heavy metal grilles for tanning; a place where life and death are profoundly present.