Flying on the raven’s wing was a cross-disciplinary exhibition appropriating Asiat in Vilvoorde as a site of new promises. The artistic interventions hovered between autonomous artworks, inventive dancefloors, collaborative commissions and circular architecture designed by Aline Bouvy (BE), Daan Gielis (BE), Sonia Gomes (BR), Rashid Johnson (US), Rotor (BE), Tarek Lakhrissi (FR), Leopold Banchini (CH), Grace Ndiritu (UK/KE) and Marinella Senatore (IT). Their contributions, mostly site-specific commissions, adorned and reinvigorated the crumbling architecture of Asiat. Their works spanned video, audiovisual interventions, sculpture and installation.
ASIAT, a former military terrain that operated from from 1946 to 2008, housed soldiers who were responsible for the production of components for military telecommunication and reparations to military vehicles. Documents speak of massive tanks, of performance and productivity, of ingenious engineering. Over time ASIAT’s vast warehouses, efficient barracks and spacious driving courts have been taken over by nature. Time stood still, Peace had returned, And now there is space again for some bewilderment.
Project description by Leopold Banchini Architects
Moon Ra is a vernacular structure built to dance around the fire. The large circular roof embraces the festival-goers and offers a temporary shelter for unexpected and wild behavior. Around the fire pit, the absence of a dance floor leaves the bare feet of the dancers in direct contact with the ground.
The rotating disc at the top of the hut opens to the moon, sending mysterious smoke signals to the neighboring hyperboloid chimneys. To build this haven, the tectonically recognizable Feathers Stage by Fala Atelier (2019) was disassembled, cataloged, and re-constructed. Each element of the previous dance floor takes on a new function and becomes part of a primal transformation.
Built for the Horst Festival, Vilvoorde (BE), using exclusively repurposed construction materials of Feathers Stage by Fala Atelier in 2019. The pavilion was entirely built by design students during a one-week construction workshop.
