As a triennial in public space, Beaufort initiates new dialogues with the local histories and landscapes of the Belgian coast. This edition highlights the histories of natural events instead of man-made stories, thereby adopting an approach to storytelling in which the flow of water takes precedence over human exploits. Narratives like the creation of the North Sea or the submerging of the island Testerep in the 14th century are told alongside accounts of ecosystems that grow on wartime shipwrecks and munition dumps. Such storylines conjure histories that are unearthed from what is left at the bottom of the sea, where an oceanic recording of history happened along the lines of lawless cracks and selective omissions in national history. The artworks commissioned for the triennial give voice to stories that complement and challenge local history as we know it, aiming to bring justice to those that have been forgotten. Merging the past and the future, they seek to make visible and tangible corrections in the storytelling of a coast where infrastructure is currently being built to anticipate rising sea levels. Beaufort 21 runs from May 27 until November 7, 2021 along the Belgian coast. In the weekend of June 19-20, the first of ten performances of The Long Parade by Ari Benjamin Meyers will take place and Monokino organizes a film screening of Soleil Ô by Med Hondo.

As a triennial in public space, Beaufort initiates new dialogues with the local histories and landscapes of the Belgian coast. This edition highlights the histories of natural events instead of man-made stories, thereby adopting an approach to storytelling in which the flow of water takes precedence over human exploits. Narratives like the creation of the North Sea or the submerging of the island Testerep in the 14th century are told alongside accounts of ecosystems that grow on wartime shipwrecks and munition dumps. Such storylines conjure histories that are unearthed from what is left at the bottom of the sea, where an oceanic recording of history happened along the lines of lawless cracks and selective omissions in national history. The artworks commissioned for the triennial give voice to stories that complement and challenge local history as we know it, aiming to bring justice to those that have been forgotten. Merging the past and the future, they seek to make visible and tangible corrections in the storytelling of a coast where infrastructure is currently being built to anticipate rising sea levels.

Beaufort 21 is pervaded by social momentum. Now that the limits of the ecosystem have come into full view, we are being increasingly confronted with our limitations as human beings. The dominant image of man standing atop the pyramid of creation no longer applies, and a turning point in our attitudes about nature has become imperative.

The question 'how did man change the coast' will be turned around during Beaufort 21 to: 'how has the North Sea constantly changed mankind?'

Artists: Oliver Laric, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Jeremy Deller, Timur Si-Qin, Marguerite Humeau, Nicolás Lamas, Ruben Bellinkx, Laure Prouvost, Rossella Biscotti, Goshka Macuga, Nel Aerts with Gert Verhoeven, Michael Rakowitz, Jimmie Durham, Sammy Baloji, Raphaela Vogel, Saâdane Afif, Els Dietvorst, Adrián Villar Rojas, Maen Florin, Monokino, Rosa Barba, Heidi Voet, Ari Benjamin Meyers with Die Verdammte Spielerei

Curated by Heidi Ballet