argos 📺 brings new and old works from the soɓɹɐ collection to your personal screen. Each first Thursday of the month, a film will be made available on our website. The selected film is also shown in a window display at Koopliedenstraat 62 Rue des Commerçants (next to the rile* entrance). Want more? Don't hesitate to browse our entire catalogue in the annex(e).

argos tv66: Ria Pacquée, Dive into Mankind (2009)

From East to West, Ria Pacquée observes and films people on seas, oceans, rivers and lakes. She zooms in on actions and rituals performed in and around the water. The recordings range from explicitly religious activities – such as bathing in the Ganges or a baptismal ceremony – to bathing purely for relaxation and pleasure. To some, water means work: they scour the river for lumps of gold, rinse their newly-dyed fabrics or hope for a successful catch. We see men, women and children taking a bath in the river, washing and figuratively purifying themselves. We see them play, splash and have fun. Pacquée’s subjects float, dive, swim, thrash about and snorkel; they appear and disappear above and below the surface.

Dive into Mankind explores man’s kinship with an important primeval force. Each in their own way, the subjects of the film experience an intimate moment with the water. Through detached camera work, Dive into Mankind observes this fundamental experience and underlines their interconnectedness and kinship with nature.