With 'Art on the Meuse', Z33 and RLKM are bringing art to the Limburg Meuse Valley. Five artworks will appear in Dilsen-Stokkem, Kinrooi, Lanaken, Maaseik and Maasmechelen. read more
Laure Prouvost
MOEDER! OUI DREAM TILL THE END
In the far north-east of Kinrooi lies a vast gravel lake – created by reclamation, today a resting place for people and nature. It is in this unexpected place that Mother! Oui dream till the end by Laure Prouvost finds its home. The monumental sculpture is an artistic interpretation of Mother Meuse, the river that has brought fertility and prosperity to this region for centuries. That is why she is affectionately called Mother Meuse in the vernacular.
Prouvost depicts Mother Meuse as a hybrid figure: half woman, half underwater creature, with a pregnant belly, tentacle arms and bronze birds nesting on her arms. Like a protective mother, she surrounds a mountain of Maas gravel, derived from the same subsoil from which the lake itself originated. The gravel refers to the past of mining, but takes on a new meaning here as a symbol of care, connection and anchoring in the landscape. With her tentacle, she presses a flag into the gravel mountain, with the words Oui dream till the end. That flag remains visible even when the lake floods at high tide. In this way, the artwork literally goes along with the dynamics of the environment.
The location was not chosen by chance. This spot is near ‘the end of Belgium’, a symbolic border point where nature, history and landscapes converge. Prouvost, herself from a Franco-Belgian border region, often plays with multilingualism and meaning shifting in her work. “Oui sounds like we, or ‘us’,” she explains. “The flag expresses the hope that we continue to dream together – until the end.”
The choice of a half-octopus figure fits within a recurring theme in Laure Prouvost’s oeuvre. An octopus has multiple hearts and no central brain. Its senses as well as its brain are located in its tentacles. He thinks by feeling and feels by thinking. By combining these characteristics with a human form, Prouvost invites us to look, think and empathise with other creatures differently.
BOUNDLESS CRAFTSMANSHIP
Mother! Oui dream till the end is not only an artistic beacon in the Meuse Valley, but also an example of cross-border craftsmanship. The monumental sculpture, six metres long, three metres high and weighing almost two tonnes, was created in an intensive one-and-a-half-year production process, in collaboration with specialised bronze workshops in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Laure Prouvost started the creation process with several ideas, sketches and clay models. In dialogue with a local working group of residents with diverse expertise, the proposal for Mother Meuse was chosen and further refined. A 3D scan was made at Brons Atelier in Zottegem on this basis and a life-size form was milled out in polystyrene foam, which was then worked out in detail by a team of sculptors. The moulds were transported to Balk in the Netherlands, where the bronze was cast at temperatures of up to 1,200°C. After hardening, the parts returned to Belgium for polishing and assembly.
On-site installation also required technical precision. Due to the scale of the work and its location in open water, a temporary dam was constructed so that the foundation could be built dry. That foundation later disappears under water again, causing the sculpture to rise out of the pond, so to speak.
LAURE PROUVOST
Laure Prouvost (Croix-Lille, 1978) lives and works between Antwerp and London.
She was awarded the Turner Prize in 2013, the Max Mara Prize for Women in 2011, the Principal Prize at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival in 2010 and 2011, as well as the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize at the 62nd edition of that festival, and the EAST International Award in 2009. In 2016, she was awarded a Knight of the Order of National Merit, and in 2019 she was awarded an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. She represented France at the 58th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (2019).
She had solo exhibitions in numerous (inter)national art institutions such as De Pont, Bonnefanten, M HKA, et al. Her artworks are part of several collections.
Using video, drawings, carpets, ceramics, photography, performance and especially language, Laure Prouvost creates immersive installations that immerse the viewer in a state of personal and collective introspection. Words, images, memories, the five senses, everything that seems tangible and reliable is inverted by the fantastical nature of the ambiguous narratives introduced by the artist. Her relationship to language, which is mischievous and full of humour, is influenced by her own experience and the gap between everyday spoken language, in England, and her mother tongue.
PRACTICE
Mother! Oui dream till the end is easily accessible via the walking and cycling route network in the Maasvallei River Park. Visitors can park in car park 3 or 4 of the walking area ‘Kessenich and the Three Own’. From there, the signage ‘Kunst aan de Maas’ will lead you to the work of art: via the red walking route from parking 3, or the purple route from parking 4 (Visit Kinrooi). Sturdy walking shoes are recommended. You can also go directly to the Bastion.
If you feel like more, you can continue the walk along the red loop through the Koningssteen-Kollegreend nature reserve – one of the most beautiful landscapes of the Meuse Valley. Along the way, you also pass the symbolic ‘end of Belgium’, to which Prouvost subtly refers in the title of her work.
By bike, you reach the work of art between nodes 21 and 22. The cycling route networks of Flanders, the Netherlands and Germany connect seamlessly here.
Looking for a multi-day micro-adventure? The RivierPark Maasvallei’s long-distance walk passes by the work of art. Or discover Mother! from the water with a silent sloop (via Botel Ophoven) or Treibgut (Sailcenter Limburg). Find even more local tips at www.visitkinrooi.com.
For families with children
From the Bastion the work of art is already clearly visible, but by following the dike path you can easily get close to it. There on the bank, families will also find some large Meuse boulders with playful assignments.
WITH THANKS
This work of art came about in collaboration with a local working group of residents (Jörgen Janssenswillen, Anja Neskens, Koen Prikken, Christel Rutten, Luc Vanthoor), the municipality of Kinrooi, De Vlaamse Waterweg, Brons Atelier, Flassh Bronsgieterij Balk (NL), Vandebos Bouwonderneming, Ebema, dr. ir. ing. Robrecht Keersmaekers, Peter Firman, Magma Architects and Dinanderie Clabots.
Thanks to the tentacles of the studio: Mona Pouillon, Dora Benyó, Elia Castina, Véronique Vaes.