Wunderkammer

The Wunderkammer was opened in 2018 on the grounds of MDD. This project by artist Hans Op de Beeck (Turnhout, 1969) was realised in collaboration with architect Mo Vandenberghe (studio MOTO). Op de Beeck transformed the former Villa Meander, built in the 1930s, into a remarkable ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ and contemporary ‘wunderkammer’.

Inspired by the view on the Leie River, cabinets of curiosities and ‘film noir’, Op de Beeck’s work offers a unique immersive experience, at once aesthetic and meditative. Op de Beeck’s work offers a unique immersive experience, at once aesthetic and meditative. It belongs to a larger group of works – so-called Locations – in which the artist manipulates scenes from everyday life and gives them form in large-scale, sculptural installations.

Jan Hoet's private library - which had been given a place in the building in previous years - was transferred to the Arts Library in Ghent in 2021. Besides the projects at the Herkenrode Abbey in Hasselt and the Towada Art Center in Japan, the Wunderkammer is the artist’s third permanent immersive installation.