Global Imaginations

Twenty leading contemporary artists from all over the world have been invited by Museum De Lakenhal to share their vision on today’s globalized world. To do so, they will exhibit new or existing work that has been inspired by the extensive collections of Leiden’s many museums. The result is a fascinating reflection of actual themes and developments in the world that surrounds us. The exhibition – which includes room-filling installations, video projections, sculptures and more – is hosted in De Meelfabriek in Leiden, an abandoned and imposing industrial complex on the edge of the city.

Global Imaginations is being organised to mark the 440th anniversary of Leiden University and will bring art, culture and science together into a single exhibition. Since being founded in 1575, the university has attracted scholars and artefacts from all over the world. These have come together in Leiden to further our understanding of the world around us in all its shapes and forms, to which the city’s diverse collections of ancient artefacts, biological specimens, maps, art and history testify.

But the modern world is changing. The traditional borders that separate the local, the national and the international are quickly fading thanks to the development of the internet and through increasing migration. Meanwhile new scientific discoveries are further enabling us to adapt our own world views. Global Imaginations consists of works by artists from every corner of the planet, who are all rooted in diverse traditions and cultures, but are simultaneously part of our ‘global village’. And now they are taking their own perspectives of our planet to Leiden. To visit the Global Imaginations exhibition is to journey through today’s cosmopolitan world.

Global Imaginations is the result of a collaboration with Leiden University, Museum Volkenkunde and LeidenGlobal*. The exhibition has been made possible by De Meelfabriek, the Mondriaan Fonds, Stichting Doen, VSB fonds, Fonds 21, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Cultuurfonds BNG, Stichting Stokroos and Cultuurfonds Leiden.

Organised by: Museum De Lakenhal with the Leiden University, National Museum of World Cultures and Leiden Global.

Curated by: Anke Bangma, Meta Knol, Nicole Roepers, Kitty Zijlmans, Manon Braat.

Participating artists amongst others: Georges Adéagbo, Mark Dion, Marjolijn Dijkman, Romuald Hazoumè, Meshac Gaba, Simryn Gill, Mona Hatoum, Tsang Kin-Wah, Rivane Neuenschwander, Lucy Orta & Jorge Orta, Raqs Media Collective, Batoul S’Himi, Andrea Stultiens, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Tintin Wulia, Ghana Think Tank, Taryn Simon, Chen Zhen