Kris Verdonck

Kris Verdonck has been one of our house artists for many years. His work varies in style and scale. For smaller productions he needs less support from us (he has received a government subsidy for three years), but for the larger stage work collaboration with a 'major organisation' is indispensable. A Two Dogs Company has its offices in the Kaaitheater. 

Kris Verdonck (born 1974) studied visual arts, architecture and theatre and this training is evident in his work. His creations are positioned in the transit zone between visual arts and theatre, between installation and performance, between dance and architecture. As a theatre maker and visual artist, he can look back over a wide variety of projects.

He directed theatre productions and produced various installations, a.o. 5 (2003), Catching Whales Is Easy (2004), II (2005). The first STILLS, consisting of gigantic projections, were commissioned by La Notte Bianca in Rome. In 2007 he created the theatrical installation I/II/III/IIII, while END premièred at Kaaitheater during the 2008 Kunstenfestivaldesarts. Verdonck often presents combinations of different installations / performances as VARIATIONS. VARIATION IV was shown during the Festival d’Avignon in 2008. In 2010 Kris Verdonck finished the ‘circuit performance’ ACTOR #1 at Kaaistudios, showing three variations on the theme from chaos to order. K, a Society, a circuit of installations inspired by the work of Franz Kafka premiered at Theater der Welt 2010 Germany. 

In 2011 Verdonck presented two research projects at Kaaistudios: TALK sets out to explore language, while EXIT, created with Alix Eynaudi, aims to tackle theatre as a medium. In the same year, his first solo exhibition was held at House for contemporary art Z33 together with a new work: EXOTE. In 2012 Verdonck created M, a reflection: a theatre production with texts by Heiner Müller with actor Johan Leysen and his digital double on stage. H, an incident, a musical theatre performance for big stage, based on the life and work of Daniil Harms, premiered at Kaaitheater during the 2013 Kunstenfestivaldesarts.

UNTITLED, a solo creation for the Spanish dancer and performer Marc Iglesias, explores the phenomenon of the liberated figure, the performer who is thrown into theatre in a limited way as if by a mechanical construction. It premiered at Kaaitheater in 2014. ISOS, a 3D video-installation based on the world and characters from the apocalyptic science-fiction novels of J.G. Ballard, was presented in his workspace in Brussels in 2015. IN VOID, an installation circuit about human absence, premiered in February 2016 in Kaaistudios.
 

Currently, Verdonck is working on BOSCH BEACH, an opera based on a libretto written by Dimitri Verhulst and composed by Vasco Mendonça, which will premiere in September 2016.