The Last Flemish Primitive: Jan Vercruysse’s Self-Fashioning of Artisthood and National Identity

In 1989, the artist Jan Vercruysse (1948–2018) stated that he was “the last Flemish Primitive”. This comment, despite being only a fragment of a lengthy interview with Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, became a trope in subsequent writings on Vercruysse. I argue that the statement was part of a deliberate strategy by Vercruysse in shaping his identity as a (Belgian) artist. First, I focus on Vercruysse’s Portraits of the Artist (1979–1984), a series of photographic works in which he uses the genre of the self-portrait—thereby implicitly referring to the Flemish Primitives—as a means to express the constructedness of artistic identity. Second, I explore Vercruysse’s construction of his identity and his relationship vis-à-vis the notion of Belgian art. Finally, the statement uttered in 1989 will be contextualized within the changing political and cultural context of Belgium and Flanders in the 1980s. I demonstrate how the statement can be read as invoking a radically different conception of Belgian art during this period.

Resonance. (Re)forming an Artistic Identity through Intercultural Dialogue and Collaboration

This artistic doctoral research examines how the third space emerging from intercultural dialogue and transcultural collaboration can be a catalyst for new musical discoveries, intercultural humility, and the (re)forming of artistic identities. The body of this project is centred around three doctoral concerts, a CD/LP recording, and a documentary film which took place between 2016 and 2021. In addition, I draw on the embodied experience of a five-year period that I spent living and collaborating with musicians and dancers in Tanzania and Zambia prior to the doctoral project.As a double bass player, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, I place myself in a series of different musical and multi-arts contexts, engaging in dialogue with musicians, dancers, and visual artists from Brazil, Colombia, Estonia, Finland, France, Madagascar, Mexico, Poland, Sápmi, Tanzania, the UK and Zambia. Various solo, duo, and ensemble settings act as case studies to examine how this process takes place, the new knowledge gained from the collaborations and their resulting artistic outcomes, and the effects of intercultural dialogue, collaboration, and co-creation on my own artistic identity. The instruments and forms of artistic expression used by my collaborators include the Brazilian berimbau, Chinese guzheng, dance, live electronics, experimental instrument making, Finnish Saarijärvi kantele, Sámi joik, vocals, percussion, live visuals, image manipulation, animation, photography and film.The key concepts that I investigate in this research are: artistic identity, global citizenship, hybridity, interculturalism, intercultural humility, liminality, third space theory, and resonance, the latter being viewed both as a physical phenomenon and as an approach to thinking about the ways in which we connect with the world around us. This research contributes to new knowledge and understandings in the areas of artistic identity formation, intercultural collaboration and interculturalism in music education through the interweaving of artistic processes, audio, video, photographs, artistic outcomes and text.Findings emerge in terms of new musical discoveries that surface from the dynamic third space created through transcultural collaboration; the expanding and deepening of musicianship through intercultural dialogue and collaboration; the interconnected nature of interculturalism in music and its reliance on openness, empathy, dialogue and constantnegotiation with sonic material, people and place; and the crucial role of fluidity and resonance in forming a personal artistic identity.Further research outcomes include new techniques and the expansion of the sonic palette of the double bass, enabled by developing custom-made attachments, preparations and electronic manipulation. The complete scope of this doctoral project includes four artistic components (three concerts and a recording), a documentary film and an artistic doctoral thesis comprising two peer-reviewed articles and an integrative chapter, all housed within the main multi-media exposition, Resonance: (Re)forming an Artistic Identity through Intercultural Dialogue and Collaboration.

Paradiplomacy in Creating Regional Competitiveness: Case Study of Jember Regency

This paper describes the paradiplomacy of the Jember Regency. This paper shows that the Jember Regency’s paradiplomacy through city diplomacy can act as an actor who can cooperate with countries such as Japan and Canada in various fields in order to be a safe and comfortable regency. In doing so, the local government seeks to create international connections through sister cities and smart cities. This effort is a strategy to enter the digital era, which demands more innovative and creative regions. Jember Regency uses a conservative type of paradiplomacy which in line with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the foreign relations coordinator. Thus, the relationship built is in the form of a joint coordinator formula and parallel harmony between the capital city and the local government. In addition, educational cooperation was conducted by the University of Jember as a form of soft power to introduce many foreigners’ artistic identity, values, and local culture.

Idea twórczości i figura artysty w singeries Davida Teniersa Młodszego, Antoine’a Watteau i Jeana Chardina

Niniejszy artykuł prezentuje problematykę artystycznego naśladownictwa na przykładzie przedstawień małp jako malarzy, rzeźbiarzy i koneserów sztuki, autorstwa Davida Teniersa Młodszego, Antoine’a Watteau i Jeana Chardina. Sceny te należały do gatunku satyrycznych przedstawień funkcjonujących w języku francuskim pod nazwą singerie (fr. singe - małpa, singerie - dosł. małpiarnia), ukazujących małpy podczas parodiowania przeróżnych ludzkich czynności. Niekwestionowanym mistrzem gatunku stał się flamandzki malarz David Teniers Młodszy, który spopularyzował temat małp w rolach artystów, a za nim, prawie stulecie później, podążyli Antoine Watteau i Jean Chardin. Skłonności naśladowcze, przypisywane małpie od starożytności, zaowocowały skojarzeniem zwierzęcia z mimetyczną rolą sztuki, a dosłownym wyrazem tej analogii stała się metafora ars simia naturae (sztuka małpą natury). Singeries wymienionych twórców nie tylko nawiązują do toposu naśladowania rzeczywistości, ale i przewrotnie go przekształcają w charakterystyczny dla tego tematu, ironiczny sposób. Małpa uwikłana zostaje w toczące się od czasów renesansu spory teoretyczno-artystyczne, których omawiane przedstawienia stanowią niejako kontynuację. Za pośrednictwem zwierzęcia artyści dotykają problemu imitatio i inventio, co w przypadku Watteau i Chardina przyjęło formę sprzeciwu wobec tendencji akademickich. Te, na pozór jedynie zabawne przedstawienia, niosą ze sobą znaczenie o wiele poważniejsze – poruszają kwestie oryginalności i artystycznej tożsamości. Podobnie jak sztuka „małpowała” naturę, tak dla malarzy małpa stała się ich alter ego, dlatego w artykule zaznaczony został także kontekst autoportretu. Summary: This article presents the issue of artistic imitation on the example of monkeys that are depicted as painters, sculptors and art connoisseurs by David Teniers the Younger, Antoine Watteau and Jean Chardin. These scenes were a part of a visual art genre called singerie. The name has been given from French word singe – monkey, ape. Although the practise dates back to medieval drôlerie, their greatest popularity in European art fell in the 17th and 18th century. The depictions of monkeys imitating human behaviours were a perfect parody of human nature, not only in a moral way, but also in connection with creativeness. The Flemish painter David Teniers the Younger popularised the subject of the artist as an ape. This tradition was subsequently adopted by Antoine Watteau and Jean Chardin in France. The monkey was an important symbol of imitation. In result, this meaning of an animal was associated with the art imitating reality and the expression of this analogy was the metaphor ars simia naturae (art is an ape of nature). The singeries of the mentioned artists refer to the topos of imitating nature and have strong historical significance that continues the aesthetics discussions about the mimetic role of art. These, apparently funny depictions, carry much more serious meaning – emphasize the questions of originality and artistic identity. Like an art „apes” nature that the monkey became an alter ego of the painters.

Ambiguities of the Priesthood

The unstable category of priesthood brought with it ambiguities and sometimes unfortunate implications. For Brahms the bachelor, whose own performances garnered occasional feminized rhetoric even from Eduard Hanslick, the priesthood could be interpreted as an avoidance of sexuality. This chapter contextualizes art-religious rhetoric of asceticism and martyrdom with burgeoning psychological approaches to artistic identity, including Max Klinger’s own psychological interpretation of the martyr Prometheus in his Brahms-Phantasie. Priestly abstinence is then contextualized with contemporary notions of chastity seen in Paolo Mantegazza’s studies of sexuality and with Friedrich Nietzsche’s ascetic ideals. The author suggests that, on one level, some of Brahms’s most heteronormative supporters such as Philipp Spitta and Josef Viktor Widmann wrote masculinized rhetoric in response to these negative implications.

The Flow of Memory during the Obsessive Decade. The Case of A.E. Baconsky at Steaua Magazine

"The relationship between the literary and the political field is a debated topic in historiography, especially with the rise of new research methods. The question of how the writer constructs his artistic identity in a communist regime will be given an answer by studying the literary events and developments, which took place in Cluj‑Napoca, in the editorial office of Steaua (The Star) magazine during the 1950s. Steaua quickly enjoyed success in the cultural landscape of the time, and the editorial policy promoted under its editor‑in‑chief A.E. Baconsky, managed through numerous concessions, but also through a game in the mirror, to stage a literature with moderate ideological influences. Based on different sources, the paper reconstructs the environment in which the writers were formed during the communist period, focusing on the attempts made by them to obey the line in order to ensure their financial and professional survival."

The Contribution of Crafts in Improving the Touristique Image of Essaouira: The Case of Marquetry

In order to enhance tourism in Morocco, the 2020 vision is concentrating on an integrated and a proactive approach to national land-use planning. Eight territories have been set up, and each one has a positioning that the ministry of tourism plans to promote. Essaouira, which is a part of Marrakech Atlantic territory, is hence, presented as a destination that embodies the art of living. Namely, the marquetry, which is reflecting cultural and artistic identity has played a key role in fostering the touristic image of Essaouira. However, this role is not well highlighted and Essaouira's marquetry is encountering several obstacles that need to be fixed so as to improve this craft, which is the symbol of an entire province. The aim of this article is to evaluate the managerial practices of Essaouira's inlayers, in order to recommend suitable actions for the improvement of the city's marquetry sector and therefore contribute into the enhancement of its touristic image.