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M HKA reserves its fifth floor for surprising interventions and intimate pop-up presentations. INBOX is a place that inspires and surprises, one that offers us a glimpse into the world of passionate thinkers and doers. With INBOX, M HKA creates a physical space in which the museum addresses often-recurring questions.

In the periods between the various events, we present a selection of our collection works, with particular attention to video art.

INBOX can be visited for free.

We are still working on this page. Please check back soon for the complete overview.

Controversy addresses the polemic of photojournalism's ethical credibility by engaging in the discussion surrounding Robert Capa’s Falling Soldier and confronting it with a scientific approach. Capa took his iconic photograph during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, capturing the very moment a soldier is shot in the head, making it one of the first images of war in action. The authenticity of this image has been questioned since its creation, although the story that accompanies it is simply too compelling to not be believed. 

A recent study by professor José Manuel Susperregui, based on orographic analysis, indicates that this photograph was made elsewhere than Capa had originally claimed. This would place Capa far from the front lines, making it unlikely that the soldiers he was accompanying met any resistance, thus arguing that the photograph was staged.

Controversy is a registration of this newly defined location. A photomontage produced with scanning technology that is normally applied to the reproduction of paintings and rendered in unusually high resolution with no interpolation. This approach paraphrases the empirical methodology of drawing conclusions from a vast amount of collected data. 

Does a scientific debunking of a photographic icon ultimately change its meaning, or does its relevance surpass its authenticity? Controversy poses an aesthetic answer to this question.

Controversy (catalogue)
Max Pinckers & Sam Weerdmeester
Lyre Press, August 2017, Brussels
16 pages, edition of 750, 21 x 27,9 cm, price: €10
Written contributions by Lars Kwakkenbos, José Manuel Susperregui and Hans Durrer

Controversy was photographed while artists in residence at arteventura in Spain, June 2016. Max Pinckers is a researcher in the arts, affiliated to KASK / School of Arts Ghent. This project was financed by the research fund Arts of the Hogeschool Ghent and the Mondriaan Fund.

For more information and photos, please contact: 
Bert De Vlegelaer
Press Officer
E bert.devlegelaer@muhka.be 
T +32 (0)3 260 99 91