Jimmie Durham's Eurasian Projects

Ensemble

"I have a project of trying to become Eurasian. I live on the continent of Eurasia and I am always trying to find the division between Europe and Asia." [full text [here](http://ensembles.mhka.be/items/3170)] "It’s really strange that Eurasia is never considered a continent. Why is this the case? And why is Europe considered a continent, when in fact it is a political entity that has strangest and most fluctuating boundaries. Even now, especially now, no one agrees to where Europe might be, because it’s always only a political not a geographic entity. And the fact that Europe is known as a continent, and Eurasia, the continent, is not known as a continent, means that we are taught to think politically, never physically. I can be Eurasian just by living on this continent but I can never be European, because to be European you have to be born into one of these nation states that form its political history. To be European, you have to be French or Italian or German or English, but to be Eurasian you can be anything." [full text [here](http://ensembles.mhka.be/items/3184)] Jimmie Durham's *Eurasian Project Stage One* was published in the form of a [book](http://ensembles.mhka.be/items/844) which also served as a catalogue for the exhibitions [*La porte de l'Europe (Les bourgeois de Calais)*](http://ensembles.mhka.be/events/48) and [La leçon d'anatomie (A Progress Report)](http://ensembles.mhka.be/events/131).

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The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

About M HKA Ensembles

The M HKA Ensembles represent our first steps towards initiating the public to today's art-related digital landscape. With the help of these new media, our aim is to offer our artworks a better and fuller array of support for their presentation and public understanding.