Stellar Scape: and what if we reached for the stars?
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From stardust to the Universe with infinite dimensions, the Stellar Scape exhibition brings together some twenty artists and companies around the imaginary worlds of astronomy and the resurgence of space adventures.
The Moon, the planet Mars, the stars and beyond. It is to these celestial lands that Stellar Scape, the new exhibition at the Pavillon, in Namur, takes you. Get ready to marvel and dream on a massive scale, whilst keeping your feet firmly on the ground. And above all, be prepared to sharpen your critical mind.
A multi-dimensional space
Let’s go, we’re on our way to an interstellar voyage! On the edges of the central circular space of the superb building which was the Belgian pavilion at the Milan universal exhibition, an alcove is closed by a heavy, black wall hanging. In this intimate space, stretching from the ceiling to the floor, hundreds of white rubber bands are arranged into a kind of giant grid with vertical bars onto which is projected the animated image of an abstract landscape.
‘In this Plane Scape installation, the visitors are led to roam around the three-dimensional universe which appears on the labyrinth of taut rubber bands. They become actors of the installation. Immersing the public into the heart of the exhibition, that’s really the trademark signature of KIKK, the non-profit association promoting digital and creative cultures, and which is overseeing this exhibition,’ explains Charlotte Benedetti, the Pavillon’s Director.
‘As for our approach, blending the arts, sciences and digital creations, it’s pretty unique. Breaking down barriers is our driving force. We try, as far as we can, to mix together disciplines, viewpoints, ways of being, in this exhibition. It’s interesting to obtain the perspective of artists on the world of space and its conquest. But also to understand this deep desire for innovation inspiring companies which devote all of their energy to the development of their projects, sometimes for five years.’ All All you need to open up your mind.
The Stellar Lab, a showcase for scientific talents
Whilst in times past launching a satellite or venturing to the Moon was the preserve of States, in recent years the latter have made way for actors in the private sector: this is the New Space. This is the rationale in which SpaceX operates, as do Belgian and European companies. Within the Stellar Lab, a space dedicated to research and innovation, their end-products and their ambitious projects are displayed in model form.
A small-sized artificial satellite fitted with two solar panels takes pride of place on a pedestal. ‘Aerospace Lab, this is the Belgian flagship which is defying American hegemony in the New Space. And it does so whilst reducing the costs of design, production and orbit placement by employing the smallest possible number of subcontractors,’ points out Charlotte Benedetti. By 2025, no less than 500 small satellites, primarily for telecommunication purposes, will have left this company, based in Mont-Saint-Guibert, in Belgium, to be sent into low earth orbits, in other words, as far as 2,000 km above our heads.
A soup of space debris
Whenever satellites are mentioned, talk of space debris is never far behind. In fact, ever since Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to be placed in orbit, was sent up on October 4, 1957, numerous other machines have found themselves revolving around the Earth. Some are no longer in use, others have disintegrated into a multitude of pieces. Owing to their very large number, their very high speed – of the order of 8 km/s, in other words, 28,800 km/h in low orbit – and the risk of collision, they form a soup of dangerous waste, in particular for active satellites.
Monitoring this space debris and predicting their trajectories with the aid of telescopes is the core project of the French company Aldoria. Its activity enables satellites which still have fuel onboard to be deorbited (that is to say, be made to climb or descend from their trajectory) to avoid collisions, and thereby the production of additional space debris. It is showcased by means of striking photographs of the sky scarred with moving debris.
This theme of space debris is also broached from an artistic perspective by the installation, all delicacy and oneirism, conceived by Alessia Sanna & Alexandre Weisse. What a pleasure it is to contemplate this accomplished work, named Leave Space, whose premises we had glimpsed during the Arts & Sciences residency launched by KIKK in 2023. It consists of no less than 33,251 cubes of resin, woven by hand, arranged around a sphere, highlighting the satellites in orbit, either in use or inactive.
Reaching for the stars
Much further away than the artificial satellites, at some 384,400 kilometres, is orbiting the Earth’s only natural satellite: the Moon. The heralded return of human beings to this white ball which lights up our nights is inspiring many a dream. The Artemis programme, initiated by NASA, plans to send astronauts there at the end of 2026. It is targeting none other than eventually establishing a sustainable human presence. And it is doing so in order to prepare the journey of a first crew to Mars.
Companies are rolling up their sleeves and activating their brain cells with a view to taking part in this major mission. Thus, within Stellar Lab, the Belgians of the Space Application Service are exhibiting a prototype of a rover (a mobile vehicle) to explore the Moon’s South Pole, the future moon landing site of the Artemis programme. There can also be observed models of inflatable and autonomous lunar habitation units for the recycling of water and the production of oxygen originating from the French Spartan Space and the Austrian Liquifer projects.
But actually, the dust which covers the surface of the Moon, what odour does it have once placed in an oxygenated atmosphere? The Belgian duo ‘Unfold’ has attempted to provide a response to this question. Inspired by the composition and the colours of the moon dust described in the NASA archives, the two artists have created a new raw material: this forms the reliefs of the large lunar disc of the Sea of Tranquillity installation, in reference to the name of the site where human beings made their first moon landing. While the original conversations of the Apollo programme concerning the odour of moondust are being played, an olfactory device piques the nostrils of the visitors.
Conquest, a has-been thing?
The Stellar Scape exhibition also pushes us into considering the notion of the conquest of space. ‘Placing satellites into orbit, future missions to the Moon, the idea of sending human beings to Mars, there is nothing new about all these current projects. They are a repletion of past space conquests. And of a very human behaviour, to go and dominate, take possession, conquer,’ assesses Charlotte Benedetti.
Already in the seventeenth century, in his work ‘The Man in the Moon’, a certain Francis Godwin, a British author, had the idea of a voyage to the Moon initiated by geese. These birds pulled a winged chariot taking to our natural satellite humans who had to flee the Earth. Basing herself as faithfully as possible on this book, the German artist Agnès Meyer Brandis has set about raising geese and training them to go to the Moon. Their names? Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, etc. In exhibiting as precious relics the shells of the eggs which housed the embryos of these lunar geese, she further ridicules the heroic cult erected around the first men to have placed their feet on the Moon. ‘Beyond the extremely amusing aspect of the project, the multimedia installation “Moon Goose Colony” recounts the connection between art and science. And brings forth the question of the legitimacy of access to space and of who has the right to talk about it seriously,’ specifies the Pavillon Director.
A Captain to enthral the children
If one of the missions of the Pavillon is to inspire the dreams and to ask questions of adults, the young are not being left out by any means. ‘Here, we are going into a space which is called “Captain Future and the Land of the Night”,’ explains Charlotte Benedetti, taking the wide spiral staircase leading to the basement. ‘It is an imaginary character created by Jos Auzende, the former Artistic Director of the Gaîté Lyrique, in Paris. She worked with Marie du Chastel on the curation of this exhibition. Captain Future gets the children to reach a hand out to the unknown stars and planets by means of a series of contemplative and interactive installations.’ Plenty to make their eyes shine.
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