Since the introduction of the collage technique—in which image and word explicitly came together within art for the first time—text and image have become increasingly intertwined. In collaboration with curator Geertje Brandenburg, De Cacaofabriek is organizing an exhibition in which various contemporary artists answer the question: Where does art end and poetry begin?

Language within art Sometimes a text functions as a means to evoke an image. In that case, the text takes on an almost poetic function. In other cases, the text is employed precisely as a visual element, detached from direct meaning and referencing writing. Thus, a language can both imagine and be imagined. Language as a medium within the visual arts often remains underexposed: a title is seen as merely a title, a word as merely a word.

But what happens when language is no longer a secondary matter and merges with sculpture, painting, installation, and other forms of visual art?

The idea for this exhibition arose from this question.

By examining contemporary Dutch artists who employ language in diverse ways, this exhibition presents a series of answers to the question: what if the medium is not the message, but the message is the medium?

— Julienne Tullemans