Supervisory team

Liesbeth Decan, Hana Miletić, Greet Billet, Richard Venlet

Tapta: Espaces Souples

Internal Financing

Born in 1926 in Poland, Tapta (pseudonym of Maria Wierusz-Kowalski) arrived in 1945 in Belgium. She studied visual arts and weaving at the National Higher Institute for Architecture and Visual Arts in La Cambre in Brussels, where she graduated in 1949.  Soon after, she and her husband Christophe Wierusz-Kowalski moved to Congo, where they lived from 1950 until 1960. Upon their return to Belgium, Tapta became quickly known as one of the most important members of a new generation of artists engaged in re-defining sculpture through the use of threads and textiles as true sculptural elements. She called her work sculpture souple (soft sculpture), which corresponded to her constant search for an expanded notion of sculpture that included the fluidity and tension of threads. In 1975, Tapta became Professor in charge of the tapestry workshop at La Cambre. Amongst her students were Ann Veronica Janssens, Monica Droste and Marie-Jo Lafontaine. Tapta died in 1997.
Despite her intriguing biography, innovative work, and influential role as a professor at La Cambre, the oeuvre of Tapta has never been extensively researched so far. This impulse project aims to, first, explore and partly disclose the archives of Tapta, and, second, establish a dialogue between the (historical) work of Tapta and contemporary art practices, more specifically that of Hana Miletić and Greet Billet. Together with Liesbeth Decan these artists will study the archive and oeuvre of Tapta, and, from there, produce new works as well as texts.

This project started as an LUCA impulse project (2020-21) and had its first exposure in the form of an exhibition at Arton Foundation (Warsaw) and an accompanying book publication. Thanks to additional support from the Flemish Community, LUCA Breakout and Maurice Verbaet, and in collaboration with WIELS, Brussels, the exhibition "Tapta: Espaces Souples. With Greet Billet, Hana Miletić and Richard Venlet" was set up at WIELS, in the summer of 2023. Afterwards, a book publication was also made of this expo, published by WIELS and Mousse (2024).

Research Unit: Intermedia

Duration: 2020 - 2024

Researchers

Liesbeth Decan, Hana Miletić, Greet Billet, Richard Venlet

Publications and realisations

- Exhibition and book in collaboration with Arton Foundation, Warschau.

- Exhibition "Tapta: Espaces Souples. Met Greet Billet, Hana Miletić en Richard Venlet", WIELS, 2023.

- Book “Tapta: Espaces Souples. With With Greet Billet, Hana Miletić and Richard Venlet”, published by WIELS and Mousse Publishing (2024).