New collection presentation in M The Ten

The Ten

New collection presentation in M The Ten

Every two years M creates a collection presentation in collaboration with members of the public – a temporary display based on a common theme and featuring works from the collection. The previous one, 'Madness', made way a few months ago for 'The Ten': ten exceptional works, selected in an equally creative and Covid-safe fashion by ten 'guinea pigs'.

In November last year, M launched a call for interested parties. Some fifty people responded, from which ten were subsequently selected. First they were introduced online to thirty works from M's collection chosen in advance by the museum. They could then award points to their favourite works during various rounds of the game. This was done via video calls and on a Miro board, a kind of digital notice board. After each round, people voted, and works were then dropped. In the end, the ten works that are now on display at M remained. But the dropouts also got a spot - but to find out how that works, you will have to read the testimonials.

Ilias Mohout’s favourite work

'Lot and His Daughters', ca. 1780-1810, Pieter Jozef Verhaghen

Ilias (24): "I had seen the announcement doing the rounds on social media. At first, I thought it was more something for my roommate - she has studied art - but in the end I decided to go for it myself. I love art and culture, but I am absolutely not a connoisseur, and I had only been to M a few times. That is why I wanted to participate: I wanted to learn to look at art with more knowledge, more depth."

"The game structure – we had to give points to works that appealed to us and also defend them to the others – seemed a bit childish to me at first, but it's actually a clever system. That way, all guinea pigs had equal input and participants with more prior knowledge or stronger opinions didn't get the upper hand."

"This work by Pieter Jozef Verhaghen stood out for me. Other participants were more into contemporary art, but that doesn't always speak to me much - one of the 30 works was called 'Black Monochrome', but to me that was just black (laughs)."

Zaalzicht 'De Tien', M Leuven, 2021, foto: Dries Lievens voor M Leuven

'Lot en zijn dochters', Pieter Jozef Verhaghen, ca. 1780-1810, M Leuven, foto: © Miles Fischler voor M Leuven

"When you see 'Lot and His Daughters,' your first thought is: an innocent scene. Until you hear the story behind it. Lot is a figure from the Bible. He must flee the city of Sodom, along with his two unmarried daughters. They decide to get their father drunk – note the glass of wine in his hand – and seduce him, and he begets a son with both of them. A bizarre turn of events, in our opinion: you can’t help but think of #MeToo stories. An employee of M, Anne, then gave us some more background information: those two sons would grow up to be the progenitors of two nations, the Moabites and the Ammonites."

"What fascinated me most is how your knowledge and your background determine how you interpret a work. We look at it now with our #MeToo glasses, but in the 18th century they saw this work with very different eyes. Who knows what future generations will see in it."

"The selection was done online, but at the end we were able to go and see our favourite work for the first time live at the depot. Very special, I was really excited about it. When the setup in M was ready, we went there together – that was the first time I saw the other nine guinea pigs in the flesh! Afterwards, I went back with friends."

"Taking part in 'The Ten' was a special experience. I feel more connected to M now, it has taken on more meaning for me, and I follow M even more on social media (laughs)."

Lila Maria de Coninck’s favourite work

Antependium with Christ monogram, ca. 1550-1600, unknown maker, wool and silk

Lila Maria (16): "I had read about the project online. I reacted immediately, very impulsively, and they picked me!"

"Among those thirty works we could choose from, I had a few favourites right away. Those were contemporary works, mostly photographs. An antependium that was five hundred years old did not immediately appeal to me. But then I heard the story behind it."

Zaalzicht ‘De Tien’, 2021, M Leuven, 'Antependium met Christusmonogram', onbekende maker, ca. 1550-1600, M Leuven, foto: Dries Lievens voor M Leuven

Antependium met Christusmonogram, onbekende maker, ca. 1550-1600, M Leuven

"An antependium is a cloth that was hung over the altar. This specimen is from the Saint-Peters Hospital in Leuven, a kind of medieval hospital. In those days, the sick were treated with plants and herbs, and the Antependium depicts many medicinal plants: violets, foxglove, columbine... Not that I recognize all those types, but people around me are heavily into naturopathy and such – that was a lead for me. There are strawberries on it too, although I'm not sure exactly what disease they were used to treat (laughs). There are also plants with psychedelic effects, poppies for example. Intriguing to see that they were using them already back then, even though they may not have known the ins and outs of it."

"When I first saw the work in real life, in M's depot, it was smaller than I had thought. That was a great moment – when you’ve only seen a work digitally, there is still a distance. At the depot, that barrier was broken."

"It was also really cool to be able to put together an expo with ten people. The atmosphere was great, after the second Zoom-session, I felt like I had all these new friends with whom I could talk about art every Thursday night. It was also nice to see each other live for the first time at the end – we could talk about something else for a change (laughs). That was another barrier that was broken."

"I live in Antwerp, so before 'The Ten' I didn't know M that well – I had been there once with school. I'm in my final year of human sciences, but I'm very much into art: I used to do drawing school, and now I'm training to be a singer-songwriter. I love going to museums too, it's what I like doing the most. The Photo Museum in Antwerp is my favourite, but I also visit Middelheim, the M HKA, museums in Brussels... And from now on, I'm definitely going to follow what's going on in M as well!"

Lotte Cool’s favourite work

“Guy up and down the stairs”, 8 mm video, 1970, Guy Mees

Lotte (34): "A few years ago, I was at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna with a friend. We saw an exhibition there curated by costume designer Juman Malouf and her husband Wes Anderson, the director of 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' among others. They had selected 400 objects from the museum's depot, which they brought together in a wonderful story. A unique experience that really blew me away. So when I read in De Standaard that M was looking for ten guinea pigs to do something similar, I was immediately interested."

"'The Ten' was set up as a digital game. Several of the thirty works presented appealed to me, but this video by Guy Mees stood out. You see how Mees walks up and down a staircase with a video camera. Or rather: you don't see it yourself, you only see the steps and the walls. You don't know where he is either: in his home, in his studio? You only catch a glimpse of some of his works. The movie isn't long, a minute or so, but you can watch it endlessly."

Zaalzicht 'De Tien', M Leuven, 2021, ‘Guy trap op trap af’, Guy Mees, 1970, Cera-collectie bij M Leuven, foto: Dries Lievens voor M Leuven

‘Guy trap op trap af’, 8 mm-video, 1970, Guy Mees, Cera-collectie bij M Leuven

"Climbing stairs is a simple, ordinary act, but this video made me think about it more. The staircase is black, the hallway is painted white. At a certain point, Mees passes through a small passage and all you see is white, which has a disorienting effect – for a moment you don't know what you're looking at anymore. That raised bigger questions for me: where am I going in life? In the video, Mees isn't going anywhere, which intrigued me. It also made me realize that something as mundane as climbing stairs is not so simple for everyone. Stairs can also be an obstacle."

"A stairwell in itself is an empty place, you only come there because you are on your way somewhere else, yet we all have meaningful experiences with it. We may have shared our first kiss on the school steps, we may have said goodbye on a train station steps.... That ambiguity triggers me. I'm a costume designer myself by trade, and I feel it will inspire me in my work as well."

"After we had selected the ten works, we went to see the opening of the exhibition at M together with all the guinea pigs. Big surprise: the twenty dropouts were also hanging there! They are brought together in a space that is designed like a depot. Then you come to an adjoining room with the ten 'winners': it looks more like a classic museum room. They also show a video, a look back at the whole selection process."

"I look back on it with great pleasure. It was fascinating: discussing art with ten strangers, gaining an eye for other perspectives, seeing things you hadn't seen before... But I also found it socially enriching: thanks to art, strangers have become acquaintances. Very valuable, especially during Covid."

'The Ten': 28.05.2021 - 26.02.2023

This collection presentation was made possible in part by contributions of the M-art patrons through M-LIFE and proceeded in collaboration with Cera.