{"id":51867,"date":"2026-03-27T09:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/?p=51867"},"modified":"2026-03-27T09:32:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:32:53","slug":"the-votos-a-non-exhaustive-atlas-of-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/en\/2026\/03\/27\/the-votos-a-non-exhaustive-atlas-of-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"THE VOTOS \u2014 A NON-EXHAUSTIVE ATLAS OF IMAGINATION"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jean-Paul Lespagnard<\/a> at La Verri\u00e8re, Brussels<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between Marrakech and Brussels, between craft and ritual, Jean-Paul Lespagnard\u2019s\u00a0The Votos<\/em>\u00a0dissolves the distance between the sacred and the spectacular. At La Verri\u00e8re \u2013 Patinoire Royale<\/a>, these figures stand as shimmering totems of care, desire, and connection \u2014 a celebration of imagination as a shared, deeply human act of resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A constellation of symbols<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emerging from a month-long artistic immersion in the Medina of Marrakech, The Votos<\/em> are hybrid presences shaped through conversations between people, materials, and cultures. Born from Lespagnard\u2019s collaboration with local metalworkers, the sculptures bear the imprint of multiple hands and histories \u2014 a choreography of exchange where creation becomes communion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once attached to Brussels\u2019 monumental Christmas tree at Grand-Place in 2025, these figures now return stripped of ornament. Freed from glitter and spectacle, they reclaim their autonomy. Suspended in the tranquil light of La Verri\u00e8re, they appear like guardians of plural joy \u2014 part saint, part pop star, part spirit \u2014 what Lespagnard calls \u201ca non-exhaustive atlas of imaginaries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read also : Jean Paul Lespagnard\u2019s Immersive Pop-Up for Design September<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reclaiming the ex-voto<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The project is rooted in one of humanity\u2019s most universal gestures: the ex-voto<\/em>, a tangible prayer offered in gratitude or hope. Lespagnard reinterprets this archetype through the lens of our contemporary anxieties and desires. In a trance-like process of automatic drawing, he allowed forms to emerge: mythic creatures, cultural icons, hybrid identities colliding and merging into one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What unfolds is not a classification but a constellation \u2014 a space of coexistence beyond binaries or hierarchies. These figures speak of transformation, fluidity, and belonging; their ambiguity feels queer in the most cosmic sense \u2014 a freedom to remain undefinable, constantly remade by relation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Craft as dialogue, art as care<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each piece carries traces of collaboration and intimacy. The hammered metal still vibrates with the rhythm of Marrakchi workshops, the air of the medina alive in its texture. Through this collective act of making, The Votos<\/em> embody an ethic of attention \u2014 to material, to others, to the invisible bonds that sustain us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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