Event

Carla Arocha & Stéphane Schraenen — 20 Years and More: Works from the Collection
24 January 2026 - 24 May 2026

M HKA, Antwerp

Carla Arocha (b. 1961, Caracas, Venezuela) and Stéphane Schraenen (b. 1971, Antwerp) have worked together as an artist duo for over twenty years. Across sculpture, painting, photography and installation, they investigate how space, reflection and perception shape the act of looking. Their work calls for a critical way of looking.

The first gallery brings together their individual practices and early collaborations. Carla Arocha's Screen (2005) consists of six suspended semi-transparent panels that function like a mobile, engaging light, movement and the viewer's presence. Stéphane Schraenen's Sleeping Room (1999-2024) is part of the series What | Don't See at Night. In these abstract nocturnal cityscapes, darkness, colour and reflection intersect. The silkscreen print Persiana (2014) by Arocha & Schraenen evokes window blinds.
Who is looking and who is being watched?

The new installation Landscape (Antwerp) (2026) occupies the circular gallery. Arocha & Schraenen have transformed the colour palette of an urban view into monumental fields of colour. Reflective structures capture light, colour and movement, projecting them back into the space. Architecture, environment and viewer become active elements in a continuously shifting experience.

With thanks to the artists, and in particular for the donation of Landscape (Antwerp).

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About M HKA / Mission Statement

The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

About M HKA Ensembles

The M HKA Ensembles represent our first steps towards initiating the public to today's art-related digital landscape. With the help of these new media, our aim is to offer our artworks a better and fuller array of support for their presentation and public understanding.