[kick!]

09.03.2007

a collaboration between the AZ Maria Middelares hospital and S.M.A.K.

[kick!] stands for “Kanker In(spireert) Cultuur en Kunst” (Cancer Inspires Culture and Art) and was a structural joint venture between the Oncology care programme at the AZ Maria Middelares hospital and S.M.A.K. The godfather of the project was Jan Hoet.

The [kick!]-project was based on the potential functional and therapeutic value of art in medicine. Medical science and contemporary art, two disciplines which are constantly evolving, interact and enter into a cooperative deal.

From the start it was made clear that the project had to meet two requirements:
- First of all, it was based on the ascertainment that the oncologic patient commutes between the private and the public atmosphere, between the intimacy of his home and the hospital. It was therefore important that the project functioned in both worlds. Consequently, the artistic form had to be mobile.
- Secondly it was essential that, in a context in which life and death play a crucial role and in which the patient’s personal life atmosphere is affected in a quite compelling way, art is manifested discreetly and with the requisite amount of empathy in the patient’s environment.

In concrete terms the project comprises a perspex suitcase in which specially conceived multiples by 28 international artists are brought together. Enclosed you can find a list of the participating artists. The names of the artists have deliberately not been linked to the works of art. We were convinced that the project would have a greater impact if the emphasis was on the work itself rather than on the name of the artist who had created it.

A space was constantly reserved in the AZ Maria Middeleras hospital and at the Sint-Jozef Campus for the project. Both spaces have been decorated specially for the [kick!]-project by the architect Wim Cuyvers. These areas also served as a a meeting place for patients and for the contacts between the patients and the onco-coaches (companions).

As the project had a very experimental character, the initiators did not know how it would be greeted.

We would like to thank the artists who participated in this project:
Michaël Aerts - Orla Barry - Guillaume Bijl - Dirk Braeckman - Ricardo Brey - Rui Chafes - Jan Christensen - Vaast Colson - Wim Cuyvers - Joaquim Pereira Eires - Loek Grootjans - Noritoshi Hirakawa - Kamagurka - Mark Langelaar - Ives Maes - Mark Manders - Tova Mozard - David Neirings - Jörg Rode - Michael Ross - Michael Sailstorfer - ManfreDu Schu - Regine Schumann - Nedko Solakov - Donatella Spaziani - Bart Stolle - Johan Tahon - Agnes Thurnauer - Dennis Tyfus - Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven