The ephemeral is eternal

The collection presentation Dwarsverbanden shows (a reconstruction of) the model that Piet Mondrian made in 1926 for the setting of the play L'éphémère est éternel (The ephemeral is eternal) by Michel Seuphor. The decor has been recreated in full size in the room where the model is located. In this recreated setting, theater group Keskenoate performed Seuphor's play, directed by Katoo Vanhoutteghem, in a Dutch translation. Part of the performance was its film adaptation by Jannes van Gestel.  His recording of the play can now be seen at the place where the play was performed, in Mondriaan's replica model.*

'Keskenoate is such a theater club that is used to challenges and also absurdities. But this piece is probably the most absurd and abstract thing they have ever encountered. At that time – we are talking about a century ago – no theater director wanted to start it and it was never actually performed afterwards. Nevertheless, they have strictly adhered to the strange script. There were also other challenges in the process of filming the play in the museum. They could only film on Mondays, when the museum is closed, and of course had to be very careful with Mondriaan's art on display. That took some getting used to for the players, but it is also nice to be able to play in such an "art setting". The light was also a "thing": they had to make do with only the hall light.'

Rens van Ginneken, Oirschots Weekjournaal

The Van Abbemuseum Choir was temporarily part of the Keskenoate theater group. We were the Choir in the play and, as in a Greek tragedy, provided sung commentary on what happened.

* Due to a rights issue, this is (temporarily) not possible.