Ives Maes (BE)

Born in 1976 in Hasselt, Belgium

Lives and works in Antwerp

Over the past six years Ives Maes has been working on ‘Recyclable Refugee Camp’ (2004-ongoing), a project in which he proposes biodegradable alternatives to current humanitarian aid products and warfare techniques.

His collection includes biodegradable anti-personnel landmines, with their own expiry-dated signage, latrines, shelters and funerary urns.

Maes’ project is both shocking and ironic. It’s possible, though unlikely, that a serious aid organization or military will take up his propositions. As prototypes they exist to prompt contemplation of things that we would prefer not to be confronted with, especially not as we enjoy a leisurely walk in the country. Yet the irony is that the fields in this region have born witness to countless generations of warfare, including the innocuously titled ‘Operation Market Garden’, a military operation where German troops laid landmines to slow down the Allied advance towards Arnhem in 1944.

Maes presents a new Dutch language addition to this ongoing project for ‘The woods that see and hear’ exhibition.