Mayken

‘Mayken’ is a music theatre performance inspired by the forgotten story of Mayken Verhulst, matriarch of the Brueghel family and one of the greatest female artists of the 16th century. However, all of her own paintings and miniatures have been lost. The performance depicts the absence of women in history and the emotions such a void evokes. Veroline Vanderbeek and Abel Baeck portray Mayken as a hybrid figure, conscious of her own disappearance from history as she speaks, sings and shouts a contemporary confession accompanied by electronic music. The theatre performance forms a diptych with a white cube version for museums, bringing Mayken to her righteous place after more than five centuries.

your mother paints, sells, publishes, draws, sketches, creates

your mother is a professional

a businesswoman

an artisan, or rather, a craftsman

mayken

a man you become

a woman you are

if you simply remain being

nothing happens

credits

met de steun van de Vlaamse Overheid, deAuteurs en Stad Leuven

in samenwerking met Tristero, M Leuven, Kunstenwerkplaats Brussel, KVS, De Grote Post, Museum Dr Guislain en CC Brasschaat

met dank aan Radar Mechelen, Begga Festival