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= ARGOS =

ARGOS is a Belgian institution and resource for the production and advancement of critical audiovisual arts, as well as for its distribution, conservation and restoration. The organisation was founded in 1989 in Brussels.

ARGOS considers the audiovisual as a primary means of looking at and understanding the world in more open and integrated ways. Supporting a multiplicity of voices in society, it fosters dialogue with a broad range of institutional and non-institutional partners, both in Brussels and beyond, and seeks new ways to engage diverse audiences.

ARGOS makes exhibitions and programmes, distributes moving image works, and builds, preserves, and discloses a prominent collection of artist films and videos. It also houses a unique media library containing a broad selection of publications, as well as the audiovisual works of the collection, which is open to both professionals and the general public. Additionally, it develops original research projects relating to significant gaps in art history and its relationship to culture and society.

Through these various activities, ARGOS aims to more fully understand the past and present of audiovisual arts, as well as provide tools to collectively imagine and shape its futures.

History
ARGOS was founded in 1989 in Brussels to stimulate and promote the then still emerging Belgian audiovisual arts scene. At that time, they mainly organised screenings in cultural centres across the country, but already started distributing videos to festivals, art institutions, and television networks internationally.

As the audiovisual arts scene continues to grow and professionalise across Belgium, ARGOS develops a broad range of artistic programmes and various distribution activities. We also house a media library and a prominent collection of more than 5000 artist films and videos.

Throughout its three decades, ARGOS has gained special expertise in the field of audiovisual archiving and preservation, in the initiation and accommodation of unique audiovisual research projects, and in supporting a broad range of artistic and discursive practices. The organisation has organised a myriad of programmes, among them exhibitions, screenings, festivals, workshops, seminars, and conversations, both in and outside ARGOS, locally as well as (inter)nationally.

Since 1994, ARGOS has been primarily subsidised by the Flemish Community. In 1999, after several relocations across town, they found their current home in a former storage facility in the historic ‘Les Quais’ district of downtown Brussels. This industrial building has been gradually turned into a multifunctional platform containing two exhibition spaces, a projection room, a media library, a climate-controlled archive, studios, offices, a café, and a bookshop.

In late 2018, Niels Van Tomme became the director of ARGOS. He was preceded by Rolf Quaghebeur (2011-2018), Paul Willemsen (1996-2012), Katerina Gregos (2006-2007), and founding directors Frie Depraetere (1989-2013) and Koen Van Daele (1989-1993).

Programme
During the fall of 2020, ARGOS presents If UR Reading This It's 2 Late, Vol. 3, the first comprehensive solo exhibition by the American artist Tony Cokes in Belgium. In his work, Cokes brings together image, text and sound. This results in thought-provoking video art centered around questions of truth, social justice, and capitalism.

If UR Reading This It's 2 Late, Vol. 3 shows Cokes’ works on pop and electronic music. The exhibition is named after a Drake mixtape, which underscores the ‘mixing’ in Cokes’ art. The artist does so by quoting various authors: from Aretha Franklin to Morrissey, from Malcolm X to Louis Althusser. By bringing together text, image and sound, he creates a powerful message. One that initiates analysis and reflection.

The exhibition is however not limited to ARGOS' four walls. The project unfolds on three locations. At ARGOS, a series of videos by Tony Cokes will be shown, as well as two newly commissioned artworks. The videos will also be broadcast in a recently opened window display at the Koopliedenstraat 62. In addition to this, visitors can see a video in the heart of Brussels about the current Black Lives Matter protests, installed in public space in the Horta Hall (in collaboration with the Brussels nightclub C12). Furthermore, special guided tours are regularly scheduled, and on October 17th ARGOS invites Tony Cokes and Steve Goodman to talk about their work. The first monograph of Tony Cokes is also available. 50% of the sales price will be donated to ‘Belgian Network for Black Lives’.

External link

 * Official website