David Claerbout – Kasteel van Gaasbeek, Belgium

David Claerbout / At the window

In June 2025, we will be welcoming At the window: an exceptional solo exhibition by the internationally celebrated artist David Claerbout (born 1969). His latest creation The woodcarver and the forest will premiere at Gaasbeek Castle. A work of art – not just to look at, but to live with.

The woodcarver and the forest presents itself as an intimate portrait of a reclusive young man and the attentive depiction of his only, seemingly banal occupation – woodcarving. Crafts, such as woodworking, have become the symbol for a generation looking for a way to relieve screen fatigue and forge a connection with the outside world and, above all, with nature. Simply watching a woodcarver transform a log into a spoon has an almost meditative effect. The repetitive, slow movements and gentle sounds of cutting and scraping form part of the phenomenon of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), in which auditory or visual stimuli can generate a deep calm.

The woodcarver and the forest is a processual film that masquerades as an ever-repeating short film. Only when you – as a viewer – spend enough time with the work does the film reveal its ‘Janus-like character’: its natural beauty and repetitive nature actually conceal a destructive act of deforestation. The vivid forest landscape and the whisper-quiet room in which the woodcarver is at work alternate. As the back room of the villa slowly fills with countless wooden objects, the bird population disappears along with its surrounding forest – invisible to the naked eye and only perceptible over time. The message that Claerbout seems to be conveying is that overconsumption and precorporation are everywhere, even in the mindful consumer.

In addition to this new film, an ensemble of works by David Claerbout will be integrated into the historic rooms of the castle. The works themselves offer a new look at the collection and architecture of Gaasbeek Castle as a palimpsest or hub of time. But also at the crafts deeply intertwined with it, because coincidence or not: Gaasbeek Castle is surrounded by a vast forest and contains ‘acres’ of woodwork in a nineteenth-century neo-Renaissance style.

This exhibition invites you to slow down and reflect.

Practical info
»  From 27 June to 16 November 2025
» The exhibition is part of the museum itinerary in Gaasbeek Castle