Once upon a time … the Bruges Triennial, the one of 1971, the second in line. The poster for that exhibition was created by Roger Raveel, artist who is in the spotlight today, 50 years later, with a retrospective at Bozaar. He didn’t just design that poster, however.
Pop-up art
One morning when the “swan keeper” was feeding his swans at the Beguinage, he saw about four swans paddling peacefully on the Minnewater. Escaped, was his first thought. On closer inspection, those wooden swans had a square hole in the middle of their bodies. It was a pop-up artwork by Roger Raveel, long before that term would become known. Raveel’s swans, however, turned out to be not so much a part of the 1971 Triennial as they were a critical indictment of the pollution of the Reien, which, according to Raveel to anyone who would hear it, did absolutely no credit to the clean city of Bruges. The Bruges mayor, Michel Van Maele, really couldn’t laugh at this, so he sent out the swan keeper to catch Raveel’s swans and pen them in some city warehouse. No sooner said than done, much to the chagrin of Raveel, who in turn didn’t like the violent removal of his swans and who loudly proclaimed it to all who wanted to hear it, especially the national press, who had a big job to do.
End all good
All in all, things did work out, both between Raveel and Bruges and with the Brugse Reien. These are now so clean that they can be swum in during the summer months. Thank you, Roger! And Roger Raveel left a lot of art behind in Bruges. Go check out the Groeninge Museum. He also created nine unique flags with Bruges cityscapes in 2002 for the Golden Tree procession in the shopping streets of Bruges. And those not missing were … his swans.
Bruges Triennial 2024
This time without Roger Raveel, for that you have to go to Brussels, but between April 13 and September 01 you can visit large installations by national and international artists in our city. And how better than doing this with an S-wan guide who can tell you all about it. Also read our other blogs about Triennial Bruges 2021 and book your visit of the Triennial Bruges 2024 at S-wan.
(Photo: Argos Center for Art and Media)
