"Road to Myself" is a manifesto written by Charles Mensach that resulted in an experiential installation now exhibited in TENT Rotterdam.
This installation involves doors that open or remain closed. Charles aims to raise questions about conscious and unconscious mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. His work, inspired by nightclubs' door policy, addresses the experience of being refused entry based on your origin, skin colour, gender identity or looks. What does the feeling of not belonging in a particular community have? How far are you willing to adapt to be accepted? Are you aware of the unwritten rules you are trying to comply with - both in the club scene as well as in museums, sports clubs and schools? In his installation, Mensach reverses these roles to hold up a mirror. Which doors are context specific and which doors are within ourselves?
The installation can be seen and experienced until April 7th, 2019 during Where Does Culture Happen? exhibition in TENT Rotterdam.
Where Does Culture Happen?
About the exhibition:
With their roots in hip-hop and a ‘for us by us’ mentality, various groups of makers and creatives in Rotterdam are building new social and cultural connections. Outside and sometimes in collaboration with institutions, they develop events and ways of working in which they can be themselves and find each other. Through an exhibition, publication, performances, workshops and keen debate, TENT engages with the shifts they impart within today’s cultural landscape.
Guest curator Damoon Foroutanian invited young makers to zoom in on the club scene and the parallel city of the night. With swirling images from The Scenario and BRF, Steve Sondag and Crystal Doorjé show how many people, who feel unrepresented by the establishment, find their home on the dance floor and the communities around it. At the same time, Charles Mensach uses theatrical installation to explore the mechanisms that, also within this community, open doors for some while keeping others outside.
