Post Festum Echoes

Elen Braga | François Genicot | Manuel Ocampo | Joost Pauwaert | Joris Van de Moortel |  Sharon Van Overmeiren

7 February - 15 March 2026 - Baudelostraat 23, 9000 Gent

BARBÉ is pleased to present the group exhibition Post Festum Echoes, bringing together works by six artists: Elen Braga, François Genicot, Manuel Ocampo, Joost Pauwaert, Joris Van de Moortel and Sharon Van Overmeiren.

Post Festum Echoes looks at what remains after an intense event has ended. The party is over, but its traces are still there. Objects, symbols and details recall a moment when many people came together for the same reason. Some remains of the celebration exist only as echoes, others are still clearly present, standing firm as reminders of what once happened. The exhibition focuses on this in-between moment: the mix of excitement and reflection, of presence and absence, that stays behind after a powerful, collective feast.

Discover more about the artists below:

Elen Braga (born 1984 in Maranhão, Brazil. She lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium) is a Brazilian artist living in Belgium. She’s a multidisciplinary visual artist in the fields of installation, sculpture, and public space. Her large-scale installations often accompany a performative aspect connected to the use of her own image. She challenges herself to work with new materials and techniques; sewing, ceramics, metal. Elen Braga researches themes such as strength-requiring and resilience. Her practice often involves self-imposed tasks, as well as intense labor-requiring endeavors. She delves into mythological narratives, revisiting them to examine the ways in which they survive in contemporary behavior and beliefs. Most of the time, her work is strongly concerned with the contexts of the places in which it is presented. At the same time, she plays with the paradoxes of materiality, trying to use different materials than those used in everyday life.

Her work has been shown extensively in Belgium and abroad at leading institutions and exhibition venues, including M HKA (Antwerp), WIELS (Brussels), DE SINGEL (Antwerp), Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Museum Hof van Busleyden (Mechelen), Vanhaerents Art Collection (Brussels), Waldburger Wouters (Brussels), Kunsthal KAdE (Amersfoort), Abby Kortrijk, Museum MORE (NL), and SESC São Paulo. Braga has participated in major biennial and large-scale exhibition projects such as the Biennial of Painting in Belgium, the Triennial of Contemporary Art in Louvain-la-Neuve, the FITE Textile Biennial in Brazil, and HORST Festival.

Alongside her exhibition practice, Elen Braga has developed a substantial body of performances and public interventions, often realised in dialogue with choreography and music. Her ongoing collaborations, including projects with choreographer Michiel Vandevelde, have resulted in large-scale productions presented at venues such as CAMPO (Ghent) and Concertgebouw Brugge. In 2024, she was commissioned to create a permanent installation for the renovated Kaaitheater in Brussels, scheduled to be inaugurated in 2026.

Her practice has been supported by numerous residencies, among them ISELP (Brussels), Waterwerken (Rotterdam), Central Saint Martins (London), Kunstplaats Vonk (Hasselt), and AIR Antwerpen. Braga has received several awards, including the SOFAM Award (2024) and PRIX Connectif (2020). Her work is held in public collections such as M HKA, Mu.ZEE, the National Bank of Belgium, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, and multiple institutional collections in Brazil.

François Genicot (born in 1998, Brussels, BE) ’s artistic practice is rooted in observation, collecting, and the assembly of both living and non-living elements. Using simple tools such as a highly magnifying loupe, he investigates the everyday on a micro scale, revealing hidden structures, relationships, and forms. This act of close looking serves as a starting point for reconsidering our relationship with the more-than-human environment. His work emerges from a combination of urban findings, natural materials, and industrial remnants such as plastic, wood, metal, and standardized fastening elements. These heterogeneous components are brought together into functional or kinetic assemblages in which organisms, materials, and mechanisms interact. The practice deliberately navigates between the ordinary and the unexpected, the organic and the artificial. Through reconfiguration, temporary ecosystems are formed that make processes of symbiosis, dependency, and parasitism visible. Objects and organisms are assigned new functions and meanings, allowing marginal or discarded materials to acquire a second life. The focus is not on production or efficiency, but on patience, slowness, and local availability. Creation is approached as a cyclical process in which growth, decay, and transformation play a central role. The works operate as open systems that point toward alternative modes of coexistence, where matter, life, and movement remain in constant negotiation. François Genicot has exhibited in Free Riders Ride Free, Radar, Ghent 2023, Works on Paper, Barbé Gallery, Ghent 2023n i'm lost truly, Roubaix 2023, De Rampe, Kwaremont 2024, (Expo)nentieel, Nodenaysteen, Ghent 2024, Mondial Delay, WD40, Ghent 2025, Erlando Rock, Victorialand; Heule 2025, Chicxulub, Erlando Rock; Kino Gallery 2025.

Manuel Ocampo (born 1965 in Quezon City, Philippines. He currently lives and works in Manila, Philippines). After graduating from the University of the Philippines, Manuel Ocampo moved to Los Angeles where he studied at the California State University of Bakersfield and graduated in 1985. He lived nearly ten years in California, where he had his first solo show in 1988, which paved the way to a successful international career. Two major events of the European contemporary art scene contributed to establish his notoriety: the Documenta IX of Cassel in 1992 (conceived by Jan Hoet) and the Venice Biennale in 1993. Manuel Ocampo represented the Philippines at the 57th Venice Biennale (Italy) with The Spectre of Comparison, an exhibition curated by Joselina Cruz. His historic paintings from the 1990's entered in dialogue with more recent pieces. The artist represented the Philippines for the second time at the biennale. Manuel Ocampo's work has been showcased in many solo exhibitions throughout the world, such as Goya vu par Ocampo: La Junte des Philippines 1815- 2015 at the Musée Goya of Castres (France, 2015), during the 7th Asia Pacific Triennal Exhibition held at the Queensland Art Gallery of Brisbane (Australia, 2013), 20 Years of Intestinal Mishaps at the Carré St. Anne in Montpellier (France, 2013), The Corrections at Copenhagen Space of Drawing (Denmark, 2013), The 80's at the Topaz Arts of New York (USA, 2012), The Ghost Poo of Painting at Philara - Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst of Düsseldorf (Germany, 2011), Bastards of Misrepresentation at the Casa Asia of Barcelona (2005, Spain). He also took part in many major group shows such as Underbrut at La Friche Belle de mai in Marseille (France, 2017), Plus jamais seul, Hervé di Rosa et les arts modestes at the Maison Rouge in Paris (France, 2017), Come as you are: Art of the 1990's at the Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin (USA, 2016), Manila Vice at the MIAM in Sète, (France, 2013), Les Maîtres du Désordre at the Fundacion la Caixa in Barcelona (Spain, 2013), Les Maîtres du désordre at the Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn (Germany, 2012), Reflexus at the Arte Contemporanea of Porto (Portugal, 2009), The Making of Art at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (Germany, 2009), at the Museu Colecção Berardo of Lisbon (Portugal, 2008), In the context of : La dégelée Rabelais organized by the FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon in Montpellier (France, 2008), Morts de rire at La Panacée, in Montpellier (France, 2008), L' Explosition at the FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, in Montpellier (France, 2007). Manuel Ocampo's work is represented in several prominent public art collections such as the Museum of Contemporary Art (USA), the Oakland Museum of California, Oakland (USA), the Laguna Art Museum (USA), the Contemporary Museum, in Honolulu (USA), the Whitney Museum of American Art (USA), the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (MNCARS) (Spain), the Museo Extremeno e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporaneo (MEIAC) (Spain), the IVAM Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (Spain), the CAAM Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno (Spain), the Fonds National d'Art Contemporain (France), the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Japan), the San Francisco Asian Art Museum (USA), the Sintra Museu de Arte Moderna (Portugal), the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Mudam) (Luxembourg), the FRAC Languedoc Roussillon (France), the FRAC Ile-de-France (France), and the Museo Berado (Portugal). Manuel Ocampo also received a number of prestigious grants and awards, such as the Giverny Residency (1998), the National Endowment for the Art (1996), the Rome Prize in Visual Arts by the American Academy in Rome (1995), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (1995) and Art Matters Inc. (1991).

Joost Pauwaert (born 1985 in Bretzenheim, Germany, works and lives in Antwerp, BE) ’s work explores the relationship between power, beauty, and poetry, often infused with a playful, childlike curiosity. He integrates familiar and symbolic imagery that evokes both recognition and tension. Pauwaert is drawn to the aesthetic of the imposing and the monumental, balancing this with a sense of the caricatural and symbolic wonder that softens its intensity and opens up imaginative possibilities.

In recent years, his work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions at BARBÉ and at various other venues, including Ooidonk Art Festival, C-MINE (Genk), Art Brussels with BARBÉ, and Dauwens & Beernaert, Art Cologne (DE) with Galerie Eric Mouchet (FR), Archipel at Deweer Gallery Estate (Otegem), Art Rotterdam with BARBÉ (NL), Ponti Gallery (Antwerp), Pizza Gallery (Antwerp), Gevaertsdreef (Oudenaarde), PASS Kunstroute (Lede), De Warande at De Hoge Rielen, Emergent (Veurne), and the ABBY Museum in Kortrijk. Recently, a sculpture from his second solo exhibition at BARBÉ, 'The End Is Near' , was acquired by the Museum of Deinze and the Leie Region (Mudel) for inclusion in its permanent collection. In 2025, he participated in the inaugural exhibition of the ABBY Museum in Kortrijk, where he also performed 'Apocalyptic Carousel'.

Joris Van de Moortel (born 1983 in Ghent and lives and works in Antwerp (Belgium). He graduated from the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (Germany) in 2013 and from the Higher Institute of Fine Arts (HISK) in Ghent (Belgium) in 2009. Joris Van de Moortel is one of the most noticed artists of the Belgian contemporary art scene.

Joris Van de Moortel has received notable solo exhibitions, including Hell on Earth in search of PUR, NUR & FUR' at SMAK (Gent, Belgium) in 2025; Fragmenten, Doorgangen, Afdaling en Terugkeer at Cultuurhuis de Warande (Turnhout, Belgium) in 2024 ; Guitare préparée at Sint-Lukas Galerie (Brussels, Belgium) in 2019 ; Cachivage Bugui Bugui at BOZAR (Palais de Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium) in 2018 ; Pink Noises, his first solo exhibition in the United States, at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta in 2016 ; Are you interested in architecture?... at the Be Part Art Centre (Waregem, Belgium) in 2015. In 2022 and 2023, Joris Van de Moortel had two solo exhibitions 'Why do you tear me from myself?' a tête-à-tête with Marsyas, at the Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Paris and Foolhardy Boarding a Lost State of Mind in his Brussels gallery. In 2019, Galerie Nathalie Obadia exhibited Joris Van de Moortel's new series of pieces on paper at the Art on Paper fair (BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium), and also devoted a second solo exhibition to him in Paris entitled The ne'er do wells set out for a dubious pilgrimage on the occasion of which his first monograph was published. Joris Van de Moortel has participated in numerous manifesto group exhibitions, including The Agprognostic Temple Presents: Voices From The Underworld at X-Bowling Art Center (Elefsina, Greece) in 2023 ; The Floor & The Door at Platform 6A (Ottegem, Belgium) in 2022 ; Fiat Lux, Pilar (Brussels, Belgium), Watou Arts Festival (Watou, Belgium) and the Kortrijk Triennial of Contemporary Art (Courtrai, Belgium), Mirror Infinities organised by the nomadic art project The Agprognostic Temple at Tour & Taxis (Brussels, Belgium) in 2021 ; Een blik achter de muur at the Blikfabriek (Antwerp, Belgium) in 2020 ; Eyes East Bound at the 13th edition of the Cairo International Art Biennial (Egypt) in 2019 ; Danser Brut au LaM (Lille Métropole Musée d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France) in 2018 ; Ecce Homo at the Mayer Van Den Bergh Museum (Antwerp, Belgium) in 2017, which brought together some fifty other Belgian artists including Luc Tuymans, Michaël Booremans, Ann Veronica Janssens ; Rebel, Rebel at the MAC's (Museum of Contemporary Arts of the Walloon Federation Brussels, Grand Hornu, Belgium) in 2016 ; Passion - Fan behaviour and art, a travelling exhibition in 2015 and 2016 at the Ludwig Museum (Budapest, Hungary), Stadtgalerie (Kiel, Germany), Kunstlerhaus (Nuremberg, Germany), and Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin, Germany); Des choses en moins, des choses en plus at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France) in 2014 ; Upside down Part 2 Let's Dance at SMAK (Ghent, Belgium) in 2013 ; Spontaneously at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art (Warsaw, Poland) in 2012 ; and Exploded view at the Centraal Museum (Utrecht, The Netherlands) also in 2012.

 In 2021, Joris won the Prix de la Monnaie de Paris followed by a residency to realise his project: La Médaille et son double. In 2019, Joris Van de Moortel received the Grand Jury Prize for his participation in the 13th International Art Biennial in Cairo (Egypt). In 2024, two solo exhibitions of Joris Van de Moortel's work are held simultaneously at S.M.A.K. in Ghent and Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Brussels. His works are included in important institutional and private collections such as the Vehbi Koç Foundation (Istanbul, Turkey); the Dena Foundation for Contemporary Art (Paris, France/New York, USA) ; the Centraal Museum Collection (Utrecht, The Netherlands) ; the Raja Collection (Roissy-en-France, France) ; the Ghisla Art Collection (Locarno, Switzerland) ; the Belfius Art Collection (Brussels, Belgium) and the Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap (Brussels, Belgium).

Sharon Van Overmeiren (born in 1985 in Antwerp and lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium)’ work reflects on the images that surround us. She examines how a specific image or an entire visual language comes into being, how forms become carriers of meaning, and how that meaning shifts over time or across different cultures. More concretely, she creates new, composite images constructed from a multitude of references. Van Overmeiren’s sources are wide-ranging and span both high and low culture, from cartoons to pre-Columbian motifs, from museum display scenography to Pokémon. The images she produces are literally layered, and the relationships between these various visual strata continually generate new meanings.

Sharon Van Overmeiren has been an artist-in-residence at the Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, and at WIELS, Brussels. She has presented her work in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), Antwerp; Rodolphe Janssen Gallery, Brussels; Lucie Drdova Gallery, Prague; Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen; De Warande, Turnhout; HORST Festival, Vilvoorde; Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden; Garage, Rotterdam; Stigter Van Doesburg, Amsterdam; Extra City, Antwerp; Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels; Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort; M HKA, Antwerp; and WIELS, Brussels.