Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Around the southernmost tip of Europe, the European and African continent almost seem to meet. That`s why the Strait of Gibraltar is an important migration route, not only for the migratory birds spotted there, but also for refugees trying to reach Europe. At the Mirador del Estrecho panoramic lookout point tourists gather to take pictures of the stunning panorama, and comment on the view of Africa that they`re offered. mirador is centered around spectatorship and the act of watching itself. Like silent witnesses the tourist, the immigrant, the audience and the camera look at the landscape and indirectly at each other. They look to the other side, facing a continent that appears like a fata morgana. While being sold a dream in a world of increasing mobility and globalisation, this situation of `we` versus `they` and `here` versus `there` reveals the postcolonial gaze.

Pieter Geenen (°1979) lives and works in Brussels. He holds a master`s degree in photography and he`s a laureate of the international postgraduate program Transmedia at Sint-Lukas University College of Art and Design Brussels. His work has been presented at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, VIDEOEX Zürich, Doclisboa, Images Festival Toronto, EMAF Osnabrück, EXiS Festival Seoul, FID Marseille, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, M-Museum Leuven, La Capella Barcelona, Centre Pompidou-Metz, FRAC Basse-Normandie, ARGOS Centre for Art and Media Brussels and Médiathèque FMAC Geneva among others. He won the Input/Output Art Prize for emerging artists in 2007 and in 2011 he was awarded the first prize `Fondation Henri Servais` of the Art`Contest Art Prize. Work of Pieter Geenen is part of the collection of the Flemish Community, Colección Inelcom Madrid and different private collections. Together with audiovisual artists and filmmakers Sirah Foighel Brutman, Eitan Efrat and Meggy Rustamova he is a founding member of Messidor, a collective platform for reflection, production and distribution.