Inside the Law

Hoaxing Histories, the fifth solo exhibition by Maarten Vanden Eynde at Meessen, Brussels, examines Belgium's colonial past and its lingering influence. The works confront events such as the slave trade and resource extraction in Africa, exploring themes of propaganda, distortion, nostalgia, fear, and trauma. Vanden Eynde co-founded the Institute for Colonial Culture to foster collaboration between Belgian and Congolese actors in exploring their shared heritage.

The exhibition features sculptures like "Close Encounters," which uses telescopes and binoculars to scrutinize a pre-Berlin Conference globe, highlighting Western extractivist logic. Other pieces, such as "Guilty Pleasures" (copper and ivory sculptures) and "Malice" (panels inspired by Congolese memorial boards), address the plundering of resources and the imposition of European structures. "Little Boy 3D," a lace reproduction of the atomic bomb, points to the uranium sourced from the Belgian Congo for the Manhattan Project. The exhibition also includes "Tenerife Tech," "Return," "Leopold’s Ghost," "Bounty Orders," "Mobutu Magic," and "Black Out," each offering a critical perspective on colonial history, cultural exchange, and restitution.