Under the title Saudades from June 14 till August 20 Museum CRAC Alsace in Altkirch (France, close to Basel) and from August 27 till September 17 Museum Het Domein will present part of the collection of Het Domein. CRAC director Hilde Teerlinck made the selection for this exhibition. The works are made by Ed Templeton, Kim Gordon, Bjarne Melgaard, Doug Aitken, Arno Nollen, Fiona Tan, Lidwien van de Ven, Rineke Dijkstra, Risk Hazekamp, Rita Ackermann, Anton Corbijn, Popel Coumou, Jimmie Durham / Maria Thereze Alves and Mark Gonzales

Solitude
The decision to present the selected works under this title because it evokes a state of mind which all the works have in common. ‘Saudade’ is a Portuguese word which comes from the Latin solitate ‘solitude’ which gave the Portuguese soledade and solidão, ‘solitude’. According to the Brazilian writer Joaquim Nabuco, ‘the most touching of all words must be the Portuguese word saudade (pronounced sa-oo-dahd). It expresses the regret of absence, the sorrow of separations, the whole range of privation of beloved people and objects. It is the word which is engraved on tombstones; the message which we send to family and friends(…)’. It is a tender and nostalgic memory which seeks to express the feeling of loss.

Periphery
CRAC Alsace and Museum Het Domein are both situated outside of major urban areas. Following the exhibition, a catalog will be published which will address this underlying issue: the development and survival of art venues in peripheral areas. The CRAC Alsace is situated in the Rhineland border area between the Canton of Basel, Germany and France, surrounded by major institutions such as the Beyeler Foundation, the Vitra Museum, Kunstmuseum/Kunsthalle Basel and the Schaulager. The Het Domein Museum is situated in Holland near the Belgian-German border, Maastricht and Eindhoven, in a similar cultural context which is dominated notably by the Van Abbe Museum.

The situation of predominantly small institutions which are in geographically complex contexts but which offer innovative, audacious and radical programming will be discussed in essays by Mr. Robert Fleck (Director, Deichtorhallen Hamburg), Ms Christine Frisinghelli (Editor, Camera Austria) and Ms Gloria Picazo (La Panera Lleida Art Center).

T-time
On August 27 from 12.30-14.00 p.m. there will be a T-time in Het Domein, connected to the exhibition. Hilde Teerlinck (director of CRAC Alsace) and Stijn Huijts (director of Het Domein) moderated by Jan Boelen (artistic director of Z33 Hasselt) will discuss the role and position of contemporary art museums situated in the periphery.