When the Sky Is Low and Heavy: David Lamelas and Transnational Heritage in Flanders - scholarly article

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Violet

In 1992, artist David Lamelas installed Quand le ciel bas et lourd for the temporary exhibition America: Bride of the Sun—500 Years of Latin-America and the Low Countries at KMSKA. The installation remained in the museum garden until March 2021, when dismantling followed long-running renovations. This article analyzes the work’s exhibition context and its destruction to read contemporary art and history in Flanders through transnational heritage and postcolonial discourse.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Installation history and dismantling

Transnational heritage and Flemish cultural impact

Postcolonial discourse and nationalism in Flanders

arts Article When the Sky Is Low and Heavy: David Lamelas and Transnational Heritage in Flanders Elize Mazadiego 1, * and Stefaan Vervoort 2, * 1 Department of Arts and Culture (Art History), University of Amsterdam, 1012 XT Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2 Department of Art History, Musicology and Theatre Studies, Ghent University, 9200 Ghent, Belgium * Correspondence: [e.mazadiego@uva.nl](e.mazadiego@uva.nl) (E.M.); [stefaan.vervoort@ugent.be](stefaan.vervoort@ugent.be) (S.V.) 􀀁􀀂􀀃􀀁􀀄 􀀆􀀇􀀈 􀀁􀀂􀀃􀀄􀀅􀀆􀀇 Citation: Mazadiego, Elize, and Stefaan Vervoort. 2022. When the Sky Is Low and Heavy: David Lamelasand Transnational Heritage in Flanders. Arts 11: 24. [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[doi.org/10.3390/arts11010024](doi.org/10.3390/arts11010024) Academic Editors: Karen Shelby and Ann Cesteleyn Received: 22 November 2021 Accepted: 18 January 2022 Published: 26 January 2022 Publisher's Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional afﬁliations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . Abstract: In 1992, artist David Lamelas installed Quand le ciel bas et lourd at the temporary exhibition America: Bride of the Sun—500 Years of Latin-America and the Low Countries at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), a show that explored the cultural, economic, and political exploitation of indigenous America by European forces, and its project of colonization and erasure. Lamelas'work remained a public installation in KMSKA's garden until March 2021 when it was dismantled as a result of the museum's years-long renovation. This article examines the work in the context in which it was exhibited and later destroyed as a lens to examine two aspects of contemporary art and history in Flanders. Firstly, it foregrounds the complex, transnational heritage that Lamelas' work presents and considers its implications upon the local, cultural scene in which it resided from the 1960s to 70s, in the 1990s and in the present. Secondly, the text frames Quand le ciel bas et lourd and America: Bride of the Sun as reverberating with the emergence of nationalism in Flanders and a global, postcolonial discourse in the art world. This article considers how aspects of Lamelas' work and its elusive meanings over space and time might challenge monolithic understandings of Flemish art. Keywords: conceptual art; contemporary art; transnational heritage; installation art; exhibition history; Flanders In March 2021, Quand le ciel bas et lourd (When the sky is low and heavy) (Figure 1), an installation by the artist David Lamelas, was dismantled. Consisting of a trapezoidal steel structure under which three rows of eight trees are planted, the work has occupied a spot on the gravel lawn on the east side of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) for nearly three decades. Yet, as the KMSKA is entering the ﬁnal phases of its years-long renovation, Lamelas'work was deemed tobe in conﬂict with the planned design. Following the obstructive mandate of the Flanders Heritage Agency, Jan Jambon, the Flemish Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, withdrew his initial support, shifting all responsibility to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp (M HKA), which was gifted the work by the artist in 2011 . Lamelas sent a letter to Jambon, stressing the importance of the work and the responsibility of the Flemish government to save it. The same letter carried the support of over 900 signatories from an international community of art professionals. Despite this weighty call, M HKA's director Bart de Baere did not yet have concrete plans to secure the work's preservation, condemning it

FAQs

What happened to Lamelas’ Quand le ciel bas et lourd in 2021?

The installation was dismantled in March 2021 as the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp entered the final phases of renovation and the work was judged to conflict with the planned design.

Which exhibition introduced the installation in Belgium?

It was installed in 1992 as part of America: Bride of the Sun—500 Years of Latin America and the Low Countries at KMSKA.

How does the article use the work to frame contemporary art and history in Flanders?

It treats the installation as a lens for two themes: complex transnational heritage and the way it resonates with nationalism in Flanders alongside a global, postcolonial discourse in the art world.

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Violet