The State of Beauty NTGENT / LARA STAAL

What we find beautiful is not timeless. Ideas about beauty are changeable and are related to social standards and values. Who determines the dominant evaluation frameworks? And what happens if people start resisting those frameworks? How do we deal with works of art that use a visual language that we now experience as problematic? And how can we become aware of the morality that underlies our aesthetic preferences? Is art a free space or does the artist carry a social responsibility?

For De Staat van de Schoonheid, curator Lara Staal invited the writer and theatre maker Ogutu Muraya, who lives in Nairobi, and the Belgian actor and plantation owner Oscar Van Rompay. Based on Africa, the performance that Oscar van Rompay made six years ago with Peter Verhelst, the trio investigates the questions above. Why did Africa receive so much praise six years ago and are we now of the opinion that this performance should not be played? The audience is welcome to join in the conversation.