Conversation between Samyra Moumouh, Hans Demeulenaere and Tamara Beheydt in Samyra Mouhmouh’s studio.

19 March 2024

How did you first come into contact with Radicale1924 and how did your collaboration start?

Samyra Moumouh: I’ve known Chantal (Yzermans) for a long time. In 2019, she discussed the idea of starting a residency in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie with me and invited me to the village. That’s the first time I was there, even before Radicale1924 was an operational project. In 2021, the year of the first Parade, Chantal asked me to contribute. I knew I couldn’t be present during the Parade itself, so I proposed a work that she could easily install herself. However, I don’t consider myself an artist – I am an exhibition architect and designer. When it comes to artistic concepts, I prefer to collaborate. So, when Chantal invited me back, I suggested to invite Hans Demeulenaere, with whom I had already had several collaborations in the past.

Hans Demeulenaere: Chantal and I didn’t know each other yet, but Samyra spoke to me about Radicale1924 and vice versa. We had a videocall, and decided that Samyra and I would collaborate on an artistic project for Radicale1924. Indeed, I think our collaborations have been very fruitful. It is interesting for me, who defines myself as an artist, to work with someone who does not. It opens up my practice and gives both of us a sense of freedom. Some works we created together in the past question the conventions around ‘sculpture’, ‘furniture’ and ‘object’. However, we don’t call them ‘furniture’, as they don’t have a large-scale production. They are unique and have an autonomous existence. They can be shown in an exhibition or be a part of an interior.

 What were your experiences of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, and of the Parade?

HD: I have to say I don’t really feel a connection with the village itself. It feels a bit stifling to me. The first time I was there, my wife and I stayed in a house owned by an American lady who wasn’t there herself. It was very generous of her to let us stay there. Apart from that, we didn’t have that much contact with other inhabitants. With the group of artists, it feels a little bit like a school trip. It’s to be together in a large group, but there is also space to be alone. I don’t have much need for late-night gatherings and things like that. I know there is a photo of that year, 2022, with all the artists together, but when that was made, I was already gone. It reminded me of the residencies at Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium. The location itself is a bit isolated and you are there with a group of artists, yet all can choose whether you spend together of focused on your work. 

SM: I have a similar experience. At first, I was a bit weary that we would have to be together as a group the whole time. That is not the case. There is time together, and time apart. Everyone decides for themselves when they take time to work.

What was the first work you created together for Radicale1924?

SM: We created a video as a registration of a performative gesture, inspired by Edward Krasinski, who did several interventions with lines of blue tape. Hans tracked one room in Maison Breton with blue tape, while I filmed. The tracing of the space with one continuous line speaks about (re-) claiming a space, both physically and in art.

HD: It was a statement, a conceptual artistic intervention. I think the museum staff might have been a bit suspicious. Anyway, it made sense for us, to use a limited time-frame to claim a space. We did an intervention, but removed it again and no one saw the action in itself. What remained, was the registration of the action, in the form of a video installation. During the Parade that year, in 2022, the video was shown in Maisons Daura, because Maison Breton was still in the process of being renovated. We thought the connection between these two artists and their houses was interesting.

Then, for the Parade of 2023, you created a completely different work, but also with a certain connection to both of these artists, Breton and Daura.

 HD: I had noticed some chairs at Maison Breton. Not everything in the museum is authentic, but they have some original chairs that belonged to Breton. Chantal sent us photos. We created two objects based on one of them. Someone at Maisons Daura saw them and pointed out that one had a square shape and one had a circular shape. That made them refer to ‘Cercle et Carré, the movement of abstract artists to which Daura was associated and which was a counterweight for surrealism. That was an interesting link to us and we decided to continue on this path, rather than working around Breton or surrealism. 

 The work for the upcoming exhibition in 2024 is a continuation of this idea?

 SM: We were inspired by this idea of ‘Cercle et Carré’ – circle and square. We both searched our libraries and marked every image that combined those two shapes. Out of that source material, we selected 13 images that we translated into new objects. The number of 13 is a coincidence – we originally wanted to have 12, one for each month, but ended up with 13 of them.

HD: We did end up with objects resembling furniture again. They are all completely made from the same material, green chipboard. All the parts are screwed or glued together. Samyra made detailed construction drawings. I need to see a 1:1 model to know that it will work as an object. These try-outs are done in my studio in Bruges. That’s where the final designs are assembled.

SM: This year, in May, we will show these 13 objects at Maisons Daura. Afterwards, they will travel to an exhibition in Ghent, in the office space of the architect Bart Dehaene. There, we will also present a limited-edition publication, containing the model drawings of the works.

HD: I think it’s interesting to allow every object to be recreated by the public. In the spirit of Enzo Mari, I like the idea that everyone can put this piece together. We are collaborating with the graphic designer  Pierre Martin Vielcazat to translate each object into a graphic model. We could print them in a publication or as posters, spread throughout the village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, that could also be interesting.