PRESS RELEASE -  ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN 
(Inter)national artists in the Harry Malter Family Park

From the 26th of August until the 1st of October 2006, Zoological Garden brings 12 
national and international artists together in the Harry Malter Family Park in Heusden, near 
Ghent. The project consists of an exhibition, a catalogue, a weblog, video-screenings and 
discussions. 

The participating artists and critics are:
Monika Bakke (Poland)
Stefano Cagol (Italy)
Vaast Colson (Belgium)
Marta De Menezes (Portugal)
Stefaan Dheedene (Belgium)
Johan Grimonprez (Belgium) 
Katie Holten (Ireland)
Shih Chieh Huang (Taiwan)
Charlotte Leouzon (France)
Alon Levin (Israel)
Gert Robijns (Belgium)
Anri Sala (Albania)
David Shrigley (Great Britain)
Superflex (Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen, Denmark)

Curator: Angelique Campens


The Harry Malter Family Park is a perfect illustration of the ‘Disneyfication’ of our society 
as reality has been replaced by a fake world consisting merely of cheerfulness, bliss and 
safety. The park evokes a fantasy world in which every reference to negativity has been 
banned and where the exotic animals, unlike the ones living in nature, do not appear 
threatening. Nature has been completely subjected to the fantasy view of modern man with all 
cruel and dangerous aspects being left out. The wild animals have been tamed and sit safely in 
their cages. 
Within the genre of the animal park, the Harry Malter Family Park takes a distinctive place. 
Except for showing various species of animals, the park is also fulfilling the role of a fairy 
land. The general atmosphere is rather absurd and unreal because of curiosities like the 
‘Mouseland’ (including aeroplane and station), a King Kong slide, the painter Daniel D's 
fairground notices etc. These weird attractions might cause a feeling of alienation, something 
one does not experience when visiting a perfectly orchestrated Disneyland. The park’s 
frivolous architecture together with the anthropomorphic decor in the animal cages, which 
appear to be reflected in the children's attractions, contrast strongly with the natural 
surroundings. 

Entertaining tourists is not the only aim of an animal park however. The amusement is 
always combined with news and information about the park's research, enabling the visitor to 
form an idea of the breeding programmes, the behavioural patterns, the conservation and 
ecology. As such, the animal theme park is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, 
with mainly commercial goals and an emphasis on entertainment.

The practice of collecting, describing and exhibiting are the core tasks shared by animal parks 
and museums. Just like in a museum, a zoo is a place where information and entertainment go 
hand in hand, much to the delight of the numerous visitors. 

An exhibition in a family park raises various questions however: how to organise an 
exhibition in a public space that looks surreal and where the prevailing atmosphere is so 
dominant? Is it possible to still add something to such a highly-charged setting, or does this 
lead to an even more exotic view? The Harry Malter Family Park is not a typical exhibition 
space, and is diametrically opposed to the concept of the 'white cube' in a gallery or 
exposition hall. Can there be a dialogue between a setting like this and the works of the 
artists? Or is it exactly in such places that a natural dynamic occurs, adding an extra 
dimension to the artistic project? 
 
Zoological Garden shows a combination of work in situ and existing work that has been 
specially selected for this context. The project wants to bring artists and critics together to 
discuss one of the previously mentioned topics. On this basis, Monika Bakke (Assistant 
Professor, Department of Philosophy at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland) wrote the 
text 'The Predicament of Zoopleasures' for the catalogue. The artist Johan Grimonprez, 
together with Charlotte Léouzon (freelance curator and talent scout for Passion Pictures), 
compiled the DVD/Video Library 'Soo Logical' with movies like Jezus Action Figure; G Bush 
Jedi; Planet of the Apes; Gorillaz, El Manana, Pete Candeland; Halflife, Greenpeace, David 
Leaf; Safety Procedures, Richard Fenwick; Remind Me van Röyksopp, ....Superflex will bring 
their record compilation of animal noises – a series that resulted from their bio-gas project in 
Africa.
Zoological Garden shows work by artists who create imaginary worlds and who put the 
relationship between reality and fiction into question.

More information:
Zoological Garden opens on Friday the 25th of August at 6pm and runs until the 1st of 
October. Open on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11am to 6pm or by appointment. 
Tel: (00.32) (0) 477/764.623
Address: Familiepark Harry Malter - Bosheidestraat 15 - 9070 Heusden - Belgium
Website: www.beeldend.be/zoo.html