2026
In between
The ties between Ghent and Kanazawa (JP) will be strengthened again over the next five years. Since 1971, there has been cultural interaction between the sister cities, to which Archipel is keen to contribute in the coming period. Archipel therefore sought inspiration in Japan for the theme of this working year.
In Japan, the culture of ‘in between’ is particularly important. The time-space concept ‘MA’ permeates the entire way of thinking and living. ‘MA’ is difficult to translate into a single word, but ‘in between’, both in space and time, probably comes closest. In literature, it is also referred to as ‘interval’ or ‘emptiness’, not as empty emptiness or mere absence of presence, but as a dynamic and sensory field created by the interaction between actions, objects, in space and time. These interactions lead to constant transformations, to charged spaces in between, to moments of transition, to creative renewal… It is about the quality of what happens ‘in between’, where new meaning arises as boundaries blur. It is precisely there, in that field of tension between, that something powerful unfolds: the possibility to look differently, to slow down, to listen. It gives a feeling of freedom: searching without having to find.
We zoom in on themes and ideas that, like drops falling into water, have an impact and influence each other. Just as ripples in water overlap, we look for interference, for the encounter in between, between art and city, between dream and reality, between village and community, between tradition and imagination, between stories and deeds, between fiction and reality, between words and thoughts, between nature and artificial intelligence, between saving and destroying the world, … A network of in between that gives life its layers and richness, but also raises questions and prompts a search. In the in between there is an open field where ideas have not yet taken shape and thoughts are not yet fixed…
Perhaps it is in the in-between that wonder arises… not at the edges, but in the breathing space in between. Where meaning is not fixed, but is constantly being reinvented in the encounter with the other…