Protocols & Diplomacy - Filip Van Dingenen

Filip Van Dingenen likes to twist thinking and art into projects that become more than just exhibitions — they embody a way of life, an attitude that, much like film, searches for the unknown within the familiar. As Philippe Van Cauteren says: “Filip Van Dingenen is an alchemist.” An alchemist transforms one substance into another, seeking gold and cures for disease; in essence, they create connections in pursuit of knowledge and truth.

Filip’s raw materials are different kinds of accumulated extractions — layers of research, encounters, and experiences that cluster into long-term projects such as ‘Nfumu-Ngui’, ‘Ecole Mondiale’, ‘Algae Diplomacy’, and ‘Suskewiet Visions’. As this book, Protocols & Diplomacy, demonstrates, each project forms a generous constellation of events in which collaboration and co-creation are central. Yet, it is Filip Van Dingenen who carefully orchestrates the ceremony of exchange and interaction. His artistic practice focuses on weaving together small and large histories, anthropology and pedagogy, discourse and intuition, loyalty and globality. Van Dingenen seeks ways of thinking and acting that are co-existent rather than oppositional. Through art, he formulates questions, along with possible responses, that open up new spaces for reflection and connection.