Philippe Van Cauteren(BE)

Philippe Van Cauteren is the artistic director of S.M.A.K. (Museum for Contemporary Art) in Ghent, Belgium. Starting as Jan Hoet's right-hand man, he turned this museum into an internationally recognized institution. S.M.A.K. functions as an art laboratory, a place for experimentation, research and innovation. The museum poses critical questions, stimulates reflection and celebrates doubt. It houses works by prominent 20th & 21th century artists and runs extensive educational programs for children, schools and art students in association with academic and other institutional partners.

Van Cauteren has been working as a curator and publicist in Chile, Brazil, Germany and Mexico. He has been represented twice at the Venice Biennale, where for the 55th edition he co-curated the exhibition Kreupelhout–Cripplewood by Berlinde De Bruyckere—and for the 56th edition in 2015, he curated the Iraqi pavilion, that resonated with the rich scope of Iraqi identity extending beyond the country’s fragile borders. Recently (spring 2017), he curated the Kathmandu Triennale, Nepal’s premier international platform for global contemporary arts.