Jelena Jureša / Aernout Mik: Run-through

The duo-exhibition Run-through brings together the works of Jelena Jureša and Aernout Mik. Jureša’s cinematic works interweave personal stories with the politics of remembering and forgetting, while Mik’s audiovisual installations explore the dynamics of group behavior. Together, Run-through critically examines contemporary societies, reflecting on historical events, current European issues, and dominant political narratives.

The exhibition concept and development originate from Don’t Take It Personally, a new work by Jelena Jureša commissioned by kunstencentrum nona and BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht. This experimental film sutures themes of historical denial, collective violence, exile, and resistance. It serves as a searing indictment of human and societal behaviors in unstable times shaped by the systems of capitalism and historical greed, already hidden in the paintings of the Dutch Golden Age period. 

For the first time in Belgium, the selected works by Dutch artist Aernout Mik are showcased, including a newly reworked version of White Suits, Black Hats (2012-2024), an installation featuring archival footage from the Dutch East Indies in the 1920s and 1930s. Mik's staged multichannel works, such as Daytime Movements — created in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Boris Charmatz — present improvised scenarios often featuring non-professional actors following unstable and unwritten patterns. These pieces expose hidden power dynamics, latent violence, and unconscious group behaviors, reflecting on historical events from colonial power struggles to the aftermath of modern terror attacks. Mik represented the Netherlands in the Dutch Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007) and has held solo exhibitions at prominent venues, including Jeu de Paume (Paris), MoMA (New York), Schirn Kunsthalle (Frankfurt), and Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam).

The work of Jelena Jureša, an artist and filmmaker born in Yugoslavia and now residing in Belgium, operates beyond conventional film language, pushing the boundaries of the medium while continuously interrogating historical and political narratives. Through her meticulously researched film projects, she weaves a tapestry of connections that often prompt reflections on displacement, as seen in several works referencing W. G. Sebald and Dubravka Ugrešić. In her film works like Aphasia, Jureša subverts documentary tropes while confronting dark chapters of European history, from Belgian colonialism and Austrian anti-Semitism to the atrocities in Bosnia during the Yugoslav wars. Jureša’s works have been exhibited internationally, including lately at Manifesta 14 Pristina, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Belgrade), argos (Brussels), Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien (Graz), Contour 9 (Mechelen), Maxim Gorki Theater (Berlin), and BAK, basis voor actuele kunst (Utrecht).

Run-through is an encounter that unfolds a network of references and connections between historical denial and contemporary behaviors, offering a critical perspective on Europe while holding a mirror to the consequences of our historical choices.

Curator: Andrea Cinel

Jelena Jureša / Aernout Mik: Run-through is part of Contour Series, a series of visual and audiovisual exhibitions and projects produced and presented by kunstencentrum nona, this time in the context of the city festival Construct Europe.

With the kind support of the Mondriaan Fund and Kunsthal Mechelen.