Behind the curtains of animation

The exhibition Behind the curtains of animation opened on 27.11.25 in the Zwarte Zaal. Artistic researcher Pedram Kargar unveiled his archive of multidisciplinary work from the past ten years. Teacher Paul Demets opened the evening with poetry, accompanied by music from Amin Azizi.

Animation spans multiple dimensions of our lives. It is a magical, philosophical, physical experience, and a form of social action. Coming from a background in engineering and science, Pedram began his artistic practice as an animator in 2015. Meanwhile, he frames animation rather as an encyclopaedic practice: a multidimensional study exploring the intersections of art, science, humanity, and technology.

This exhibition traces a dialogue between Pardeh-Khani – (literally, “reading the curtain”) – and contemporary animation. This ancient Iranian art of pictorial storytelling combined painted canvases with epic poetry, music, and performance. Storytellers brought images to life through voice, gesture, and rhythm, while audiences engaged collectively, experiencing knowledge through multiple senses.

In Pedram’s practice, Pardeh-Khani endures both as a tradition and as a method—a way to activate archives and perform knowledge, shaping how we communicate, learn, and make sense of the world. The exhibition gathers a decade of practice (2015–2025) – including installations, drawings, sketches, paintings, VR, and video fragments – bringing Pedram’s archive into view while opening toward new departures.

Pedram Kargar is an artistic researcher affiliated with KASK & Conservatorium, the school of arts of HOGENT and Howest. The research project Behind the curtains of animation was funded by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund.