M.B. half Memorial Birthday Party at the Mini-golf Hasenheide

M.B. half Memorial Birthday Party at the Mini-golf Hasenheide


My favourite Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers died on his birthday, 28 January (1924-1976). It was Michal B. Ron who told me so today. Michal knows because she has written her PhD on Marcel Broodthaers. She has also been celebrating the artist's birthday for a few years now. Michal has a great sensibility for organising those birthday parties with care and poetry, doing also justice to Broodthaers' fine humour. This year she invited us on Sunday, July 28, for a M.B. half Memorial Birthday Party at the mini-golf course in Hasenheide. Summers are just nicer to celebrate than winters are.





On our arrival, Michal showed us a picture of Marcel Broodthaers, Musée d'Art Moderne, Département des Aigles, Section Documentaire, Sommer 1969, in Le Coq at the Belgian coast. In 1968, Broodthaers had started his Musée d'Art Moderne, Département des Aigles at his own house in Brussels and he would reinstall it at various places until 1972: “This Museum is a fictitious museum. It plays the role of, on the one hand, a political parody of art shows and, on the other hand, an artistic parody of political events”. 



And so, in the summer of 1969, the artist drew in the sand of the Le Coq beach the floor plan of his museum, adding a warning to the public that it was forbidden to walk on the constructions: "Il est strictement interdit de circuler sur les travaux." / "Verboden op de werken te gaan." 






Also at the mini golf course, you're not allowed to walk or stand on the course/obstacles, but this is not necessary to play. Michal had seven mini-golf balls ready for us, inscribed with the initials of Marcel Broodthaers (M.B., M. and B.) and his wife Maria Gilissen (M.G., G. and M.G.B), who was the one who had motivated Marcel Broodthaers to make art, which led to the famous quote: “I, too, wondered whether I could not sell something and find some success in life. For some time I had been no good at anything. I am 40 years old...Finally the idea of inventing something insincere crossed my mind, and I set to work straightaway."







Since I was the first one to arrive, I got to choose the ball with M.B. 
I did honour to M.B. by winning with two strokes on all the first tracks but then started slacking when they got more complicated. My dog O was also more interested in the nearby dog park than in my game. So I ended up taking a break when I didn't manage to play the holes anymore within seven strokes. Somebody else was eager to take my place and that way I missed out on the ice-cream promised to us at the end of the 18 courses. 





But let's finish with good news: Michal told me that a big Broodthaers retrospective "Marcel Broodthaers – Soleil Politique" is opening in Antwerp's MUHKA at the beginning of October. Let's celebrate some more...





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