Marie De Decker and Further Than Here in Nieuwsblad

On 3 September 2026, Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad published an article by Amaury Michaux on Africa Legacy – Cradle of Art, curated by Didier Claes at Espace Vanderborght in Brussels.

The opening photograph shows Marie De Decker beside Further Than Here. A section of the article, entitled “Fishing Nets”, is devoted to the sculpture and its creation. Developed over eight months, the suspended work transforms reclaimed fishing nets through textile construction and the application of unvarnished gold.

The article relates this encounter between materials to the artist’s Malian and Flemish heritage. The textile history of Flanders enters into dialogue with Mali’s history of gold.

“I bring these two cultures together through my work,” Marie De Decker explains.

Gold does not conceal the net’s former life. It reveals its structure and allows a material marked by its passage through the ocean to become a vehicle for memory and transmission.

Further Than Here is presented within an exhibition bringing together 165 classical African works and 100 contemporary pieces from private and institutional collections. Through this dialogue between periods, Africa Legacy examines the continuity of African artistic creation and its place within Brussels and global art history.

Africa Legacy – Cradle of Art
Espace Vanderborght, Brussels
4 September – 1 November 2026
Curated by Didier Claes

Read the original article by Amaury Michaux in Nieuwsblad:
https://www.nieuwsblad.be/regio/brussel/brussel/africa-legacy-brengt-afrikaanse-kunst-naar-centrum-van-brussel-belangrijk-om-artiesten-in-de-kijker-te-zetten/160901565.html