In the context of the exhibition Magical Realism: Imagining Natural Dis/order, WIELS invites participating artists to take part in a conversation that begins with an object of their choice — something personally meaningful that resonates with the themes of the exhibition.
"I'm beginning to understand why they wanted us to be in conversation." — Elizabeth Povinelli
In the first part of a series of conversations, Bianca Baldi and Elizabeth Povinelli explore how the natural materials from which their objects are made — gum and wood — carry not only physical qualities, but also historical, social and political significance. Their exchange touches on colonial traces, ecological extraction and the ways in which matter can embody memory and myth.
"In the crystals, you can find bits of the wood from the tree they came from, as well as insects and other elements that really come from that place. It's quite confronting to dissolve them and see the physical fragments of their origin — even though I've never been there. Now, they're stuck to the wall here in WIELS." — Bianca Baldi
The exhibition Magical Realism is on view at WIELS until September 28, 2025.
Camera & editing: Simon Cools Fierlafijn
