Reportage in EILANDEN-NIEUWS 13 oktober 2023

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'Pictures at an exhibition' inspires musicians and visual artists

GOEREE-OVERFLAKKEE - Modest Mussorgsky wrote the suite 'Paintings from an exhibition' after visiting an exhibition by the artist Viktor Hartmann. The work consists of sixteen pieces for piano. Just as the nineteenth-century Russian composer was inspired by other people's art, so too did the Flakkeese pianist-composer Paul Stark. His jazzy arrangement of Mussorgsky's suite subsequently served as inspiration for visual artists.

By Kees van Rixoort

'Transformation, Pictures at an exhibition' is the name of the project that arises from the version of the piece that Stark composed a few years ago. In addition to influences from jazz and world music, elements from hip hop also emerge in the arrangement. The StarkLinnemann Quartet (led by Paul Stark and Jonas Linnemann) recorded the work on CD and performed it several times, including in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Alexandrinsky Theater in St Petersburg.

Three phases
The project 'Transformation, Pictures at an exhibition' consists of three phases, the first of which will take shape on November 18 in Het Diekhuus in Middelharnis. Exactly where Paul Stark met visual artist Harald Jean Jassoy and the idea arose to have artists reflect on the edited piece of music. The new transformation that resulted can be seen in a book that is presented alongside StarkLinnemann's performance and a digital exhibition of the paintings and other works of art inspired by it, made from, for example, glass, wood and a combination of wood and marble.
These are works of art by artists who have exhibited over the past twenty-five years during the Goereese Art Days, an event of the Goedereede Art Foundation. From the total number of participants, a selection was made of artists from various countries, including England, Poland and Germany. Three island artists have also created a transformation artwork: painters Harald Jean Jassoy and Foke Stribos, and glass artist Ivo Teuwen.
All works of art – the artists were allowed to choose the passage from the musical work with which they wanted to work artistically – are in the book. With a text that is bilingual if the origin is from across the border.
Anyone who wants to attend the event on November 18 (starting at 8:15 PM) can buy a ticket via www.hetdiekhuus.nl . That costs 25 euros (including consumption). The book 'Transformation, Pictures at an exhibition' can be purchased for the same amount. The CD costs 19.95 euros.

Next transformation
Phase two is another transformation. This consists of the opportunity to tap into creativity at schools, via the JAC, the Muziekgebouw Goeree-Overflakkee, among the elderly, etc. This is in the hope of starting the process of transformation at Goeree-Overflakkee and in the surrounding region, based on the idea 'creativity is in all of us'. The completion of the project, phase three, consists of making a documentary about the transformation process from Paul Stark's adaptation, the meaning and depth created by the visual artists to the creative follow-up in the island society.

'Transformation, Pictures at an exhibition' is a project of the Goedereede Art Foundation. Hanneke Reijs from Sommelsdijk is producer and curator. The Nipius-Roos Fund and several private individuals make the project possible.