In and Out of Brussels

Q: Who edited "In and Out of Brussels"?

"In and Out of Brussels" was edited by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder. Hilde Van Gelder is Professor of Art History at KU Leuven.

Q: What is the Table of Contents for "In and Out of Brussels"?

Preface T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder Introduction T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder Part 1 Renzo Martens, Episode III (Enjoy Poverty), 2009 1 Introduction to Episode III (Enjoy Poverty) Renzo Martens 2 Roundtable One: A discussion of Renzo Martens's Episode III (Enjoy Poverty) Carles Guerra, Thomas Keenan, Toma Muteba Luntumbue, Renzo Martens, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder Part 2 Sven Augustijnen, Spectres, 2011 3 Introduction to Spectres Sven Augustijnen 4 Roundtable Two: A discussion of Sven Augustijnen's Spectres Sven Augustijnen, Filip De Boeck, Dirk Snauwaert, Françoise Vergès, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder Part 3 Herman Asselberghs, Speech Act, 2011 5 Introduction to Speech Act Herman Asselberghs 6 Roundtable Three: A discussion of Herman Asselberghs's Speech Act Herman Asselberghs, Manon de Boer, Sven Lütticken, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder Part 4 Els Opsomer, Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine], 2012 7 Introduction to Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine] Els Opsomer 8 Roundtable Four: A discussion of Els Opsomer's Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine] T.J. Demos, Els Opsomer, and Hilde Van Gelder Notes Notes on the Participants

Figuring Postcolonial Africa and Europe in the Films of Herman Asselberghs, Sven Augustijnen, Renzo Martens, and Els Opsomer

T.J. Demos (Editor), Hilde Van Gelder (Editor),

Paperback

Series: Lieven Gevaert Series 14

Category: Art, Media and Visual Culture, Photography, Postcolonial Studies, Urban Studies

Language: English

ISBN: 9789058679192

Publication date: November 15, 2012

€29.50 (including 6% VAT)

Buy Now

Size: 230 x 170 x mm

Stock item: 67787

Standard delivery time for print books:

For Belgium: 5 to 8 working days

For EU: 2 to 3 weeks

For other countries: 4 to 5 weeks

Summary
Contents
About the Editors
Reviews
FAQs

Outcome of the multifaceted project In and Out of Brussels – book & DVD.

‘In and Out of Brussels’ examines four Brussels-based artistic projects that converge in critically investigating the figuration of Africa in the image economy of the West: Herman Asselberghs’s Speech Act (2011), Sven Augustijnen’s Spectres (2011), Renzo Martens’s Episode III – Enjoy Poverty (2008) and Els Opsomer’s Building Stories: That Distant Piece of Mine (2012). While each is a singular film, together they reveal Africa’s postcolonial imaginary to be a zone of crisis, situated between humanitarian emergency, financial pillage, and the politics of memory on the one hand, and the fictional – but nonetheless consequential – construction of European identity on the other. Just as dominant neocolonial narratives (which all too often cover over movements for independence and social justice) are critically played out and contested in these works, so too are documentary conventions creatively reinvented by Asselberghs, Augustijnen, Martens, and Opsomer. The resulting moving images emerge as a complex site of postcolonial haunting, self-reflexive performativity, researched analysis, archival reordering, and post-documentary cinematic affect. This book represents the outcome of an interdisciplinary and international research project, that gathered theoreticians, art critics, curators, and artists over a two-year period (2010-2012). The conversations collected and reprinted here look closely at the four films and examine their political, aesthetic, and historical implications.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Preface
T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Introduction
T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 1 Renzo Martens, Episode III (Enjoy Poverty), 2009
1 Introduction to Episode III (Enjoy Poverty)
Renzo Martens

2 Roundtable One: A discussion of Renzo Martens’s Episode III (Enjoy Poverty)
Carles Guerra, Thomas Keenan, Toma Muteba Luntumbue, Renzo Martens, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 2 Sven Augustijnen, Spectres, 2011
3 Introduction to Spectres
Sven Augustijnen

4 Roundtable Two: A discussion of Sven Augustijnen’s Spectres
Sven Augustijnen, Filip De Boeck, Dirk Snauwaert, Françoise Vergès, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 3 Herman Asselberghs, Speech Act, 2011 5 Introduction to Speech Act
Herman Asselberghs

6 Roundtable Three: A discussion of Herman Asselberghs’s Speech Act
Herman Asselberghs, Manon de Boer, Sven Lütticken, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 4 Els Opsomer, Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine], 2012
7 Introduction to Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine]
Els Opsomer

8 Roundtable Four: A discussion of Els Opsomer’s Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine]
T.J. Demos, Els Opsomer, and Hilde Van Gelder

Notes

Notes on the Participants

T.J. Demos

Hilde Van Gelder

Hilde Van Gelder is Professor of Art History at KU Leuven.

In and Out of Brussels is een actuele bijdrage aan een decennialange discussie over de westerse
beeldvorming rond Afrika. Het boek drukt een geloof uit in geëngageerde kunst die voor constructieve
conflicten kan zorgen. Het voert de dialoogvorm op als essentieel bestanddeel van een kritische
ruimte waarbinnen filmmaker, gefilmd subject en kijker zich actief tot elkaar verhouden.
CINEMAGIE 282 (LENTE 2013), Bjorn Gabriels

Het mooi uitgegeven boekje gaat vergezeld van een dvd en daar draait dit project eigenlijk om. De dvd bevat representatieve fragmenten van vier films van hoger genoemde cineasten (en de complete film van Herman
Asselberghs). In die vier films proberen de vier Brusselse cineasten beelden van of omtrent Afrika te draaien en/of erover te reflecteren. Het boekje zelf bestaat uit een inleiding en het verslag van vier discussies over de betrokken films.
Marc Holthof, etcetera, jaargang 31, nr 134, september 2013

Frequently Asked Questions

What is "In and Out of Brussels" about?

Outcome of the multifaceted project In and Out of Brussels - book & DVD.

‘In and Out of Brussels’ examines four Brussels-based artistic projects that converge in critically investigating the figuration of Africa in the image economy of the West: Herman Asselberghs's Speech Act (2011), Sven Augustijnen's Spectres (2011), Renzo Martens's Episode III - Enjoy Poverty (2008) and Els Opsomer's Building Stories: That Distant Piece of Mine (2012). While each is a singular film, together they reveal Africa's postcolonial imaginary to be a zone of crisis, situated between humanitarian emergency, financial pillage, and the politics of memory on the one hand, and the fictional - but nonetheless consequential - construction of European identity on the other. Just as dominant neocolonial narratives (which all too often cover over movements for independence and social justice) are critically played out and contested in these works, so too are documentary conventions creatively reinvented by Asselberghs, Augustijnen, Martens, and Opsomer. The resulting moving images emerge as a complex site of postcolonial haunting, self-reflexive performativity, researched analysis, archival reordering, and post-documentary cinematic affect. This book represents the outcome of an interdisciplinary and international research project, that gathered theoreticians, art critics, curators, and artists over a two-year period (2010-2012). The conversations collected and reprinted here look closely at the four films and examine their political, aesthetic, and historical implications.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Who edited "In and Out of Brussels"?

"In and Out of Brussels" was edited by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder.

Hilde Van Gelder is Professor of Art History at KU Leuven.

Is "In and Out of Brussels" part of a series?

Yes, "In and Out of Brussels" is part of the "Lieven Gevaert Series" series. It's book 14 in the series.

Named after a ground-breaking figure in the Belgian photography industry, the Lieven Gevaert Series is a peer reviewed series of innovative books on photography. Launched in 2004, the LG Series takes into account the ubiquitous presence of photography within modern culture and, in particular, the visual arts. At the forefront of contemporary thinking on photography, the books offer new insights in the position of the photographic medium within the art historical, theoretical, social and institutional contexts.

The Lieven Gevaert Series is published by Leuven University Press, in collaboration with 'The Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography, Art and Visual Culture' at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Université catholique de Louvain (www.lievengevaertcentre.be).

The series covers four types of publications:

outstanding monographic studies
multi-authored volumes on a specific topic
book length projects with artists
translations and/or reprints of classic texts.

All books are published in English and are written for an international audience of scholars.

Format

All books in the series are published in 17*23 cm paperback with French flaps, printed in black and white on white maco paper and with a maximum page extent of 300 pages (120.000 words) including images (unless agreed otherwise).

Authors interested in publishing their book in Open Access can check out the funding options here. Open access books are published under a creative commons license.

Series editors

Hilde Van Gelder, KU Leuven
Alexander Streitberger, UCLouvain

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editors.

Please make use of the submission form to present the full manuscript to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Proposal Submission Form

Guidelines to submit a book proposal for the Lieven Gevaert Series

Open Access & Funding Options

What is the Table of Contents for "In and Out of Brussels"?

Preface
T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Introduction
T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 1 Renzo Martens, Episode III (Enjoy Poverty), 2009
1 Introduction to Episode III (Enjoy Poverty)
Renzo Martens

2 Roundtable One: A discussion of Renzo Martens's Episode III (Enjoy Poverty)
Carles Guerra, Thomas Keenan, Toma Muteba Luntumbue, Renzo Martens, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 2 Sven Augustijnen, Spectres, 2011
3 Introduction to Spectres
Sven Augustijnen

4 Roundtable Two: A discussion of Sven Augustijnen's Spectres
Sven Augustijnen, Filip De Boeck, Dirk Snauwaert, Françoise Vergès, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 3 Herman Asselberghs, Speech Act, 2011 5 Introduction to Speech Act
Herman Asselberghs

6 Roundtable Three: A discussion of Herman Asselberghs's Speech Act
Herman Asselberghs, Manon de Boer, Sven Lütticken, moderated by T.J. Demos and Hilde Van Gelder

Part 4 Els Opsomer, Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine], 2012
7 Introduction to Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine]
Els Opsomer

8 Roundtable Four: A discussion of Els Opsomer's Building Stories #001 [That Distant Piece of Mine]
T.J. Demos, Els Opsomer, and Hilde Van Gelder

Notes

Notes on the Participants

Related titles

Women in Dalmatia

Katrina O'Loughlin (Editor), Ana Šverko (Editor),

February 2027

Off-Center

Da Hyung Jeong (Editor), Markus Lähteenmäki (Editor),

January 2027

Image [&] Narrative, Volume 26 Issue 1 (2026)

Maaheen Ahmed (Editor), Anneleen Masschelein (Editor), Anne Reverseau (Editor), Hilde Van Gelder (Editor),

December 2026

A Companion to Tom Phillips

Livio Belloï (Editor), Michel Delville (Editor),

December 2026

Collective Trauma and Future Fantasies

Raika Khorshidian (Editor), Birgit Mersmann (Editor), Cathrine Bublatzky (Editor), Julia Stenzel (Editor),

November 2026

Infrastructuring Arrival

Karel Arnaut (Editor), Luce Beeckmans (Editor), Bruno Meeus (Editor),

November 2026

A Kinshasa Star

Nancy Rose Hunt (Editor), Pedro Monaville (Editor),

November 2026

Southern Routes

Gerda Heck (Author),

November 2026

Cross, Crown and Crusade

Henrik von Achen (Author),

November 2026

Feminists Resisting Gendered Violence

Hemangini Gupta (Editor), Fiona Mackay (Editor), Jan Breckenridge (Editor), Louise Chappell (Editor), Rachna Mehra (Editor), Rukmini Sen (Editor), Mailin Suchting (Editor),

October 2026