The Future of Yesterday

Ives Maes will present his new book Ives Maes & David Campany in Conversation at the Kunstenbibliotheek on 08.05.25. Campany will be present online for a discussion, moderated by Isabel Van Bos. The talk will be followed by a reception at Kunstenbibliotheek.

Ives Maes & David Campany in Conversation

Ives Maes explores his doctoral research in the arts with David Campany, jury member of his PhD committee. Focussing on the intersection of architecture and photography, Maes has designed biodegradable refugee camps, photographed the remains of world’s fairs worldwide, and recaptured his homestead memories in photographic installations. His research postulates that architecture is inherently part of the photographic medium, initiated by the camera obscura pavilion. He proposes that world’s fairs came into being precisely because of the invention of a medium that could truthfully propagate them, and describes how this, in turn, affected architectural display strategies for photography. Campany has had a long career in curating and writing about photography exhibitions, with a focus on exhibition history, scale and design, temporality, and the role of both still and moving images within the exhibition context. Together, Maes and Campany discuss their own expanded practices and a multitude of historical examples such as the Crystal Palace at London’s Great Exhibition in 1851, Charlotte Perriand’s Agriculture Pavilion for the International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life in 1937, the Pepsi-Cola Pavilion for the Japan World Exposition in 1970, and Simon Starling’s 2008 Plant Room for Kunstraum Dornbirn.

This publication was made possible with the support of the HOGENT Arts Research Fund and The Flemish Community, Department of Culture, Youth & Media.

Ives Maes is affiliated as an artistic researcher to KASK & Conservatorium, the school of arts of HOGENT and howest. The research project Forbidden Fruits Create Many Jams was financed by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund.