MOThS _____________ Artists : Kim Farkas, Agata Ingarden, Minne Kersten, Vibeke Mascini, Mónica Mays, Chantal van Rijt Curator : Koi Persyn 18.04 > 10.05.2026 Thu. - Sun., 17:00 - 22:00 Sunset: ± 21:00 Opening: 17.04.2026 / 18:00 - 22:00 Chapel of Boondael / Oude-Lindesquare 10, 1050 Ixelles MOThS is a nocturnal group exhibition curated by Koi Persyn, presenting the artistic practices of Kim Farkas (1988, FR), Agata Ingarden (1994, PL), Minne Kersten (1993, NL), Vibeke Mascini (1989, NL), Mónica Mays (1990, ES), and Chantal van Rijt (1984, NL) in the Chapel of Boondael. The title of the exhibition draws on the French mots (words), and references The Death of the Moth, a title shared by two essays by Virginia Woolf (1942) and Annie Dillard (1976). While Woolf observes the moth from her writing room, caught in a fragile struggle between life and death at a windowsill, Dillard describes its fatal attraction to a candle, an encounter that ultimately ignites and consumes its delicate insect body. Together, the essays present the moth as a literary symbol for both quiet transience and ecstatic self-sacrifice. Woolf and Dillard offer subtle yet gripping portraits of resilience, transformation, and mortality that simultaneously mirror the(ir) human condition and artistic practices – reflections on mourning and desire at the onset of dusk or dawn. MOThS does not merely illuminate the moth’s death, but rather its wondrous life cycle – from egg to caterpillar, cocoon to moth – within a mysterious transformation. Inside the cocoon, all cells of the caterpillar’s body dissolve into a formless mass, from which the body, limbs, and organs of the moth are newly constructed. Within this tension between destruction and becoming, the image of the moth also offers a key to an existential reading of the writings of Woolf and Dillard – who, throughout their work, repeatedly reveal both the spiritual gravity and mystical beauty of existence, as well as its irrevocable end. In the nocturnal exhibition, the artworks therefore trace and celebrate the different stages of the cycle amid this state of flux, proposing new arrangements of their cells. The chapel itself is approached as a giant cocoon, sheltering a moth in the process of becoming, before it unfurls its wings and at last takes flight. MOThS is co-produced by Komplot, part of Art Brussels' OFF programme and realized with the support of the municipality of Ixelles, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Polish Institute Brussels. (Photo credits: Where I'm Calling From, Minne Kersten, video still, 2025) Public programme Weekly guided tours by Koi Persyn Every Saturday, 20:00 Chapel of Boondael - Square du Vieux Tilleul 10, 1050 Ixelles Artist talks on ‘dreaming’ in collaboration with Komplot and celador Conversation between Minne Kersten, Agata Ingarden, Natalija Gucheva and Julia Tröscher Sunday 19.04.26 - 14:00 celador - Avenue Jef Lambeaux 23, 1060 Saint-Gilles ‘A good night for mothing’ - moth spotting in Bois de la Cambre Saturday 25.04.26 - 21:00 Start at Chapel of Boondael - Square du Vieux Tilleul 10, 1050 Ixelles Caterpillar and moth collections Guided visit with ‘Lepidoptera’ collection manager Stefan Kerkhof and Chantal van Rijt Friday 08.05.26 - 14:00 Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences - Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels ‘Cine-moth’ - a filmic finissage Sunday 10.05.26, 20:00 Chapel of Boondael - Square du Vieux Tilleul 10, 1050 Ixelles