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During the spring of 2017, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) brought together two artists in the newly established Drawings Cabinet. The exhibition Eyewitness linked the social criticism of the Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1746-1828) to the social commitment of the Iranian artist Farideh Lashai (1944-2013), in a shared indictment against violence and oppression.

In 2015, the MSK acquired a copy of Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War) by Francisco Goya. This series of engravings depicting the horrors of war was created between 1810 and 1820, during the Spanish War of Independence against the Napoleonic occupation. It was never shown by Goya during his lifetime. Working in an era of war and oppression, Goya explicitly broke away from the bombastic rhetoric of classical painting: instead of glorious heroes he depicted ordinary citizens struggling to survive during the war. The cycle is considered a universal indictment against all forms of violence.

The Iranian artist and writer Farideh Lashai also worked in a time of conflict and oppression. In her drawings and prints, she combined the picturesque landscapes of her homeland with the techniques of contemporary art. For her last work, When I Count, There Are Only You ... But When I Look, There Is Only a Shadow (2011-2013), Lashai united Goya’s Desastres with her own video projections. In her subtle but subversive video installations, she takes a critical look at the political situation and difficult living conditions in Iran. For this reason, her oeuvre remains of great contemporary relevance.

In Eyewitness, the MSK demonstrated how the past and present are intimately intertwined. Born almost exactly 200 years apart, Goya and Lashai were chroniclers of the conflicts in their respective countries. Both experienced radical social upheavals and were forced to work in periods of repression and censorship. They both used art, and even humour, to take their own unique stands against the injustices that they witnessed.

To do this, they employed a variety of techniques and visual languages. By placing their work in dialogue, the MSK aims to encouraged visitors to see the positive change in contemporary society through a better understanding of the past. Two centuries have elapsed since Los Desastres was created but the message remains internationally relevant, especially in the light of the numerous conflict situations that have arisen in recent years…

Goya, Francesco --- Lashai, Farideh --- Goya y Lucientes, de, Francisco José --- Goya y Lucientes, Francisco José de, --- Lashai, Farideh, --- 7.07 --- 76.07 --- Thema's in de kunst: oorlog, opstand, geweld, verdrukking, ooggetuigen --- Goya, Francisco 1746-1828 (°Fuendetodos, Saragossa, Spanje) --- Lashai, Farideh (1944-2013, °Rasht, Iran) --- Kunstenaars met verschillende disciplines, niet traditioneel klasseerbare, conceptuele kunstenaars A - Z --- Grafische kunst ; grafische kunstenaars A-Z

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During the night of August 25, 1914, a library holding 230,000 volumes went up in flames. It was the centenary of this incident—the destruction by German troops of the university library in Leuven—that prompted the exhibition “Ravaged : Art and Culture in Times of Conflict”. The destruction of the centuries-old university in Leuven sent a shockwave around the world, heralding the new practice of deliberately destroying libraries and other cultural resources as a strategy of twentieth-century warfare. The exhibition “Ravaged: Art and Culture in Times of Conflict” at M–Museum Leuven (2014) moves from a cultural-historical perspective, focusing on five thematic clusters that recur throughout history in representations of crimes against culture : ravaged cities, ruins, targeted heritage, propaganda, and art theft. Parallel to a historical section, which covers the period up to the end of the First World War, ten contemporary artists (Adel Abdessemed, Lida Abdul, Sven Augustijnen, Fernando Bryce, Cai Guo-Qiang, Mona Hatoum, Emily Jacir, Lamia Joreige, Michael Rakowitz and Mona Vatamanu & Florin Tudor) have been invited to show work tying into the exhibition theme—including two new creations, especially commissioned for “Ravaged”. This publication sets out to explore their respective oeuvres, and to provide more information about past projects and new ones. Even today, works of art are not only deliberately destroyed, but plundered, stolen from museums or dug up illegally from archeological sites. By including these contemporary visions, it shows how local histories fit into a near-endless litany of devastation and plunder, and how the destruction of cultural heritage remains a widespread scourge.Designed by Sara De Bondt and published in collaboration with M–Museum Leuven.

wars --- hedendaagse kunst --- vandalisme --- polemologie --- Contemporary [style of art] --- Polemology --- oorlogen --- Art --- Hatoum Mona --- Jacir Emily --- Joreige Lamia --- Rakowitz Michael --- Vatamanu Mona --- Tudor Florin --- Guo-Qiang Cai --- kunst --- eenentwintigste eeuw --- Abdul Lida --- Bryce Fernando --- Augustijnen Sven --- Abdessemed Adel --- oorlog --- kunst en geschiedenis --- 341.324 --- 378.4 <493 LEUVEN> --- 7.025.7 --- 7.025.7 Kunstwerken: verlies, teloorgang door o.a. diefstal of tijdens transport --- Kunstwerken: verlies, teloorgang door o.a. diefstal of tijdens transport --- 341.324 Bezetting van grondgebied. Opeising van goederen. Opeising van werknemers. Oorlogsbuit --- Bezetting van grondgebied. Opeising van goederen. Opeising van werknemers. Oorlogsbuit --- 378.4 <493 LEUVEN> Universiteiten--België--LEUVEN --- Universiteiten--België--LEUVEN --- Exhibitions --- Conflit --- Art contemporain --- 7.044 --- 7.039 --- Thema's in de kunst: oorlog, opstand, geweld, verdrukking, ooggetuigen, conflict, burgerslachtoffers --- Kunst en politiek ; kunst en oorlog --- Iconografie ; historische voorstellingen --- Kunstgeschiedenis ; 2000 - 2050 --- 7.049 --- Thema's in de kunst : oorlog, opstand, geweld, verdrukking, ooggetuigen, conflict, burgerslachtoffers --- Iconografie ; verschillende onderwerpen --- 378.4 <493 LEUVEN> Universities--Belgium--LEUVEN --- Universities--Belgium--LEUVEN