expected
November 14 untill March 21 2027
Carnival is closely connected to Brabant. For many people from Brabant, it is not a party of a few days, but a way of life. The year is filled with writing songs, making costumes, building floats, rehearsing and looking forward together to that one moment when everything can be different for a while. In the 1990s, Het Noordbrabants Museum showed carnival from a historical point of view. With eleven– Cult & Carnival, it now chooses an artist and the carnival celebrants themselves. The exhibition makes the richness of this living culture visible.
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The world upside down
Carnival has always been the moment when the world is turned upside down for a while. The established order makes room for a different reality, and power temporarily moves to the people who normally do not have it. This tradition of reversal is also at the heart of eleven – Cult & Carnival. The museum gives up its usual role and gives Erik Kessels and the carnival celebrants the keys to the museum rooms. For a short time, they decide what happens inside these walls and which reality can be seen there. With eleven, we let this carnival logic truly enter the museum. This temporary reversal also creates space for satire and social commentary: existing relationships are questioned, while joy and exuberance take the lead.
“For a long time, people in Brabant have asked us to make an exhibition about carnival. Years ago, we did this from a historical point of view. This time, we have chosen to give the floor to an artist and to the people who shape carnival anew every year. For now, they are the boss. Be warned: this is not an exhibition to walk through quietly, but one that pulls you into the polonaise.”
— Jacqueline Grandjean, director Het Noordbrabants Museum
Erik Kessels
Artist (and former Prince Carnival) Erik Kessels searched through archives and collections for this exhibition. He also looked for the people who shape carnival anew every year. Dozens of carnival celebrants from Brabant helped create the exhibition and brought their knowledge, experience and, above all, their own taste. Together with Kessels, they give an inside view of the absurd and stubborn world of carnival.
Kessels worked with pieces from the museum’s own collection, including works by Herman Moerkerk, Leo Gestel and Antoon Derkinderen. He also presents new work, such as a special carnival float, an installation with papier-mâché heads, a cacophony of eleven stereo sets, a confetti cannon and a choreography of party blowers moved by air pressure.
About Erik Kessels
Internationally renowned artist Erik Kessels (Roermond, 1966) has been studying for decades how everyday images, rituals and human behaviour gain meaning. His typical style, which focuses on humour, chaos and reversal, puts carnival culture in a new light. His southern Dutch background and personal love of carnival come together in his artistic view of this living tradition.
