More to Tell
Recent acquisitions for the collection
5 February–22 April 2012

Museum Het Domein
Kapittelstraat 6
PB 230 NL -6130 AE Sittard
The Netherlands

www.hetdomein.nl

Museum Het Domein presents and collects works by artists who like anthropologists observe the contemporary societal and political context, build bridges between different cultures or otherwise display a vigorous attitude of investigation and engagement. In the museum's current premises there is very limited space to exhibit the collection of contemporary art. From 2016 when Het Domein's department of contemporary art moves to the new urban development project De Dobbelsteen parts of this collection will be visible on a more permanent basis.

In a period of unprecedented cutbacks in the cultural sector Museum Het Domein enjoyed the fortunate position of pursuing a policy which saw its acquisitions budget grow rather than shrink thanks to an increased contribution from the Mondriaan Fonds. This is a good reason to review the contemporary art acquired for the collection over the past four years. In 2008 Peter Fransman became director of the museum, and later that same year Roel Arkesteijn was named curator of contemporary art. A selection of recently acquired works is presented in the context of a few earlier acquisitions. The exhibition includes work by Roger Ballen, Fernando Bryce, Jota Castro, Mel Chin, Mark Dion, Remy Jungerman, Arthur Kleinjan, Shirin Neshat, Lara Schnitger, Javier Téllez, Sarah Vanagt, Roy Villevoye, and Bárbara Wagner*.

Het Domein exhibits radical positions with contemporary art, mostly artists who fall outside the mainstream. The museum's exhibition policy is seamlessly linked with its collection policy: one or more works from almost every exhibition have been acquired for the permanent collection. Many of these artists whose major works or representative ensembles we have collected are not yet represented within all the museum collections in the Netherlands. In this way Het Domein acquired Les Mouchoirs de Kabila, a large-scale, 7-part video installation by the young Flemish filmmaker and artist Sarah Vanagt, which formed the heart of her 2010 solo exhibition in the museum. In the same way the museum was able to buy an ensemble by Kati Heck. These two works are so large that there is not space enough to show them in this exhibition where the two artists will be represented by smaller works. The newly acquired works by Mark Dion and Javier Téllez can be regarded as a preview: Het Domein is planning exhibitions of their work in the coming years. The exhibition More to Tell borrows its title from a key work by the American artist Mel Chin – a harrowing accusation against the crimes commited during the civil war in Sierra Leone.

In connection with the exhibition Het Domein is organizing a programme of lectures and book presentations. In addition, during the period of the exhibition various publications will be available at substantially reduced prices. For more information, please visit www.hetdomein.nl.

Made possible in part by contributions from Mondriaan Fonds and Stichting Sponsoring Het Domein.

*Brazilian born and now Berlin - based Bárbara Wagner is an alumna of the DAI.