Location: Z33 & C-mine Design Centre
Genre: exhibition
Duration: 01.10.2016 – 08.01.2017

With Manufactuur 3.0, Z33 searches for new production models in a fast changing world. Digital revolutions, ecological awareness and shifts in the fields of work and labour encourage us to rethink the traditional industrial production model. Z33 induces diverse international projects on living and working in an (small) urban context. A vast network of designers and artists appropriated such alternative production scenarios. With Manufactuur 3.0 these new insights now come to Hasselt and Genk, staging a production platform, continuously in progress. The dynamic exhibition format shows the changing role of the designer and artist as active producers in a city.

Evelien Bracke (BE, 1980) is an independent curator and project-coordinator. She obtained a Master degree in Art History at the University Gent. From 2010 – 2015 she worked at Z33, the house for contemporary Art in Hasselt, where she curated and coordinated several exhibitions and projects. Among these projects were: Atelier à Habiter (2013-2014), The Wilde Things, The so contemporary jewellery collection of Mrs. Wilde (2013-2014), All the Knives (any printed story on request) (2012), Mind the System, Find the Gap (2012). She worked at several research projects at Sint Lucas School of Antwerp and as a guest lecturer at the Design Academy Eindhoven (Master Social Design).

Location: Modemuseum Hasselt (Fashion museum of Hasselt)
Genre: exhibition
Duration: 01.10.2016 – 12.02.2017

Label it. Trademarks in Fashion explores the system of logos, identity and the copy and counterfeit industry in fashion, using specific case studies. The exhibition does not merely bring a one on one story of real and fake, but focuses on TRADEMARKS being a legal and social structure. What is a brand? How to construct the identity of a fashion house? Masterpieces by designers from its own collection and from the collections of national and international museums and fashion houses attempt to present an answer.

The historical section examines the system of copying and licenses. In the Paris of the 1850s, Charles Frederick Worth, considered the founder of haute couture, is know to be one of the first to sew the name of his fashion house in his creations. This triggered an unprecedented copying industry. In the first decades of the twentieth century several designers such as Madeleine Vionnet, Jacques Doucet, Jeanne Lanvin, Jeanne Paquin, Paul Poiret and many others, joined forces to protect themselves against these illegal practices. Gabrielle Chanel (20s), Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga (late 40s), had very personal and divergent views on the copying industry. The 60’s had the fashion world shaken to its foundations by the growing importance of the ready-to-wear industry.

The second part of Label it looks at the TRADEMARKS mechanism as a social construction, particularly the DNA of fashion houses such as knitwear by Christian Wijnants and Missoni, colour usage by Dries Van Noten, black shades by Ann Demeulemeester, historical references by Alexander McQueen, Olivier Theyskens and Vivienne Westwood and youth by Raf Simons. In this section the importance of the designer for the identity of a brand is also highlighted, specifically with reference to the Maison Margiela.

Logo mania and logohijacking, the final section of the exhibition, elaborates on the use and hijacking of logos, focussing on houses like Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Gucci. Logohijacking refers to the re-use of logos in new contexts, such as in the work of Raf Simons, Viktor & Rolf, Demna Gvasalia for Vetements and Balenciaga, and Jeremy Scott for Moschino.

Eve Demoen (BE, 1986) obtained a Master degree in Art History and Archeology at the VUB (Brussels). In 2009 she became curator at The Modemuseum Hasselt (Fashion museum of Hasselt) where she realized multiple exhibitions. She worked at the MoMu Antwerp and contributed to several national and international exhibition catalogues. As a researcher her main field of focus is on fashion and identity.

Location: 5, Molenstraat, 3500 Genk
Genre: participative & artistic project
Duration: 01.10.2016 – 08.01.2017

The exhibition G'Merkt has Genk's youth and middle-aged persons expose the impact of subcultures and streetwear in our everyday society from past to present. Aspects such as counterfeiting, originality and impact of the brand industry are thoroughly scrutinized. The fashion approach provides a link with Label It, the presentation in the Fashion Museum Hasselt.

The participants present the results at the finissage weekend of 7 and 8 January 2017, after which the presentation will travel to the Fashion Museum.

Fashion designer and fashionista Kristien Follon coordinates this project, with Astrid Nowak from Genk as a sidekick. Moreover, StampMedia, Studio Refugee and the Genk label DESCY will be active partners supporting and giving new dimensions to the socio-artistic project.

Location: C-mine
Genre: exhibition
Duration: 01.10.2016 – 08.01.2017

This is the Sound of ^TM focuses on the trademark that musical artists create around their persona. More than ever these artists manifest themselves as multidisciplinary image makers. Often the help of visual artists is also invoked. Inspired and triggered by examples from various branches of art and recent (pop) history, they become experts in techniques of assimilation: from inspiration to adaptation and commercial use. Through a selection of both world famous and innovating cooperations, This is the Sound of TM sheds a new light on their identity. By widening the traditional exhibition model concerned with inspiration, the visitor gets to experience a cyclical exhibition with digital installations, interactive musical sculptures, video projections and much more.

Participating artists
Cory Arcangel (US), Vanessa Beecroft (USA/IT) & Kanye West), Björk (IS) & Andrew Huang (USA), Cibelle Cavalli Bastos (BR), Asian Dope Boys (CN), DonChristian Jones (US), Frieke Janssens & Stromae (BE), Es Devlin (UK), Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin (NL/USA), Robert Mapplethorpe & Patti Smith (US), Rashaad Newsome (US), Nomi Ruiz (USA), Naama Tsabar (IL), Tori Wrånes (NO)

Tim Goossens is a belgian curator based in New York. He holds a double Master in Art History (KU Leuven and the Sorbonne, Paris) and a Master in Museum Studies (Ecole du Louvre, Paris). He moved to New York and was assistant-curator at MoMA PS1 until 2010. In New York he organized exhibitions with amongst others Patti Smith, Ceal Floyer, Pieter Vermeersch, Dirk Braeckman, Kasper Bosmans and Edith Dekyndt. At MoMA PS1 he collaborated on Greater New York, a Kenneth Anger retrospective, and he co-founded the acclaimed Saturday Sessions performance series. Currently he is curator at The Clocktower Gallery (New York), one of the oldest non-profit art spaces in the US, where he has worked on projects with Joan Jonas, Patti Smith, Nancy Holt and Antony and the Johnsons. He is also curatorial director at Envoy Enterprises in the Lower East Side and since 2014 he is a professor at Sotheby's Institute of Art.

Willem Van der Stock works as assistant-curator to Tim Goossens for the exhibition This is the Sound of ^TM . He holds a Master in Art History (KU Leuven and Complutense University, Madrid) an also worked as assistant-curator at Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection in Paris.

Location: Jenevermuseum & Het Stadsmus
Genre: intervention
Duration: 01.10.2016 – 08.01.2017

The exhibition animalcoholics. challenges photographer Frieke Janssens to reflect on alcohol as a socially accepted drug and its position in modern society. Janssens created a large surrealist account in which she wrenches alcohol out of its natural context. She never wants to impose anything on the spectator, but rather shows the other side of the same coin. Humour is never far off and plays an important part in this reflection. It results in an anti-branding campaign that provides a counterweight to the exhibition of ‘jenever’ (the Dutch gin) posters, entitled DistillArt.

Frieke Janssens (Bruges, 1980) started taking evening classes in photography when she was 15 years old and knew from that very moment on that she wanted to be a professional photographer. During her photography studies at Sint-Lukas in Brussels she mainly expressed an interest in lifestyle, sociology and stereotypes. In her works she tries to tell stories that fascinate, either void of or consciously packed with clichés. The hallmark of her work is a great sense of detail, humour and surrealism. Her much-debated photo collection Smoking Kids was exhibited in Antwerp in 2011, Russia, Lineart in Ghent, New York and Chicago.

Location: cultuurcentrum Hasselt (Cultural Centre of Hasselt)
Genre: exhibition
Duration: 01.10.2016 – 08.01.2017

Notions such as ‘personal identity’ and ‘image’ seem to fade in the era of social media and selfies. The question remains to be asked however, as to if they are actually more present than ever? We gaze at ourselves through a catalogue of images of others, filled with decontextualized references. This exposition unwinds in a curious yet critical way the urge to ‘trademark’ ourselves. Anonymity, self-reflection and social stratification are blended into static or moving images, creating an ample variety of images in which the visitor can find and conform himself. The dynamic areas of the cultural centre do not only offer exhibition space, but rather a labyrinth with keys to ‘self-image-ination’.

Emmanuel d’Autreppe is Professor in History of Photography, Aesthetics and Literature at the Academy of Visual Arts, Sint-Lucas (Liège) and in 2016 deputy professor at the VUB (Brussels). He is director of the photographic collection of the Yellow Now editions and co-author of a study on social-professional photography in Belgium (Smart.be Foundation, 2012). He actively works with several institutes in Flanders and Wallonia, where he curates exhibitions on photography and visual arts.

Location: Stadscampus UHasselt
Genre: exhibition
Duration: 01.10.2016 – 08.01.2017

As early as 1974 Nam June Paik launched the term Electronic Superhighway: artists and intellectuals would be able to freely exchange data and films and this would generate an unprecedented social impact. Creating this virtual public space remains the dream of the Internet. As in a place without any state interference where people can join critical public debates and freely gather or offer information (web 2.0).

Yet the longed for democratic public space of the Internet is under threat. More and more the net resembles a gigantic shopping mall, where the public space may well appear free, but is in reality being monopolised by powerful telecom, technology and internet companies. Along today’s electronic superhighway, the logos of Amazon, Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or TEDx arise. One by one they represent powerful American brands controlling the infrastructure and services of the network.

This increasing centralisation and commercialisation of the Internet unleashes heated discussions. Multinationals engage in violating privacy, monitoring users profiles and Internet traffic, and abusing personal data for commercial goals. Moreover, the Internet at times leads to unethical economic and political practices and manipulations of the freedom of expression by firms with strong stakeholders.

The exhibition Corporate Parodies shows how artists and activists contribute to an inclusive debate on these evolutions. Through their work they show and question the influence of these companies and develop systems and loopholes to limit or bypass their power. More than once, they succeed in beating these multinationals with their own technology or in exposing their malpractices through their ingenuous interventions.

Participating artists and websites
Guido Segni (The Middle Fingle Response), Mediengruppe Bitnik (Random Darknet Shopper), Kayle Brandon & Kate Rich (Feral Trade), Ubermorgen (Vote Auction 2000), The Yes Men (Yeslab), Rainer Brendl aka ‘6’(@SEX), Matthew Plummer Fernandez & Julien Deswaef (Shiv Integer), Kari Altmann en contribuanten (R-U-IN?S), CTA Heath Bunting & Rachel Baker (Natural Reality SuperWeed kit 1.0), Dries Depoorter & Ward Oostlijnck (TinderMe.Cards), DIS (DIS Magazine), Ruth Catlow & Marc Garrett (Furtherfield), moddr_lab (Suicidemachine), Dennis De Bel (Genius Bar), Evan Roth (Ideas Worth Spreading), Dries Depoorter (Scratch Tickets), Clifton Anthony (Bored Lord).

Curated by JODI & Christophe De Jaeger
Project Coordinator: Ilse Raps

Christophe de Jaeger obtained a master's degree in Arts & Technology at the University of Plymouth and is currently working on a PhD on Media Art in the 60s and 70s at King's College in London. He is, as a curator, affiliated with the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels where he coordinates various projects on photography and media. As a freelance curator, he built a large international network in the field of visual and media arts. He realized projects in Belgium (e.g. BOZAR 2012), the United States and Shanghai (Moca 2012; the Brussels Pavilion at the World Expo 2010-2015). For the municipality of Knokke-Heist Christophe De Jaeger has curated several editions of the Photo Festival. Since 2015 he is the director of GLUON;