Near and beyond borders
Do you need an artist’s biography to understand a work of art? Perhaps not. But a life story does teach us something fundamental: everyone deserves opportunities.
In the shelter of care institutions and welfare facilities, studios full of creativity and talent are flourishing. There, hidden from the general public, gems of art and gems of people are created. Too few people know about these hidden treasures. With “Crip Stories”, we are changing that.
Art up close and beyond the border
Arts organisation Wit.h vzw travelled across Belgium and far beyond, seeking out artists working in studios connected to care and welfare services. Hidden from the public eye, these studios thrive with creativity and talent. In these places, truly special art is made by truly special people. Their work–powerful and unique–now comes together in the compelling exhibition Crip Stories. Here, you will encounter art that resonates: diverse in form, rich in theme, and always with a unique voice.
An exhibition that shifts your perspective
Crip Stories is more than just an exhibition. It sparks something, urging you to see differently.
Here, “crip” becomes a source of renewed value and meaning.
The term crip stems from cripple. Once a slur, it has been reclaimed as a badge of honor for anyone who deviates from the normal–from what is considered proper or familiar. But crip is more than a word, it is a movement. Anyone can be crip. We are crip. It is not a label, but an attitude. To be crip is to question boxes and boundaries–to include rather than exclude, especially when people are deemed “different”.
Art in every corner of the castle and park
From castle to chapel, from The Basement to the Geesteswal: art is waiting for you everywhere. Listen to the story of two young women, lose yourself between the lines of a hidden illustrator, experience the quest for total silence. Each work offers a window into another world; each work carries its own story. In this extraordinary setting–near the country border–the lines between art and well-being begin to blur. This exhibition invites you to look, listen and feel beyond stigmas and prejudices. Open your senses. This is art as you have never experienced it before.
The Crip Song is a poem by Piet Devos.
Piet was an author, literary scholar and blind. He fought for art and disability rights. And he taught us the importance of the word Crip. Do you need an artist’s biography to understand a work of art?
Crip Stories breaks down walls
The Crip Song
Sever the time
that spans your life
between symptom and prognosis,
between therapy and progress,
between hopeless and better to have not lived at all.
Celebrate your difference,
against the indifference
of cold lists,
resisting the yardsticks
held against you,
the labels and stamps
that never got you,
standards you
could only defy.
Celebrate your difference
with your delay and your weight,
the kinks in your train of thought,
around the shame
toward that curious interplay,
in the pain and pleasure
of being a body beloved.
Crumple, yes crumple the arts
drum with your only hand
dance your spasms
sculpt your blind gaze
gesture your verses
and populate above all
museums stages agora
with wrinkled real people!
© Piet Devos
The Crip Song Video