'Standing Still' by Morvarid K to open in Antwerp in September 2026

IN-DEPENDANCE by IBASHO will present ‘Standing Still’, a solo exhibition by Iranian visual artist and performer Morvarid K, in Antwerp from 6 September to 18 October 2026. The exhibition will take place at Waalsekaai 59, where it will bring together works based on the manipulation of photographic prints and organic matter.

Morvarid K, born in 1982 in Tehran, lives and works between Berlin and Bordeaux. Her practice examines perceptions of time and memory, frequently through themes connected to nature and ecology. According to the exhibition presentation, her use of physical materials grounds the work in reality, while transformative and often performative processes introduce new layers of meaning.

‘Standing Still’ draws on the ways plants and trees exist in the world. The exhibition text describes plants as rooted in place and therefore compelled to confront the conditions around them. Their adaptation is presented not as an effort to dominate their surroundings, but as a form of coexistence and interdependence.

The project, identified by the gallery as spanning 2023–26, is rooted in research conducted by the Rocky Mountain Research Station of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Morvarid K extends that scientific starting point into artworks combining photographic archives, organic materials, artisanal gestures and experimental manipulation.

Rather than using the materials simply to represent nature, the exhibition states that the artist works with them. The works may incorporate material associated with a burned forest, a scientific laboratory or a fragment of photographic memory. Each piece is described as unique and as emerging from an encounter between existing materials, archival fragments and natural imprints.

The resulting body of work adopts a restrained visual language and a reduced colour palette. The exhibition description frames ‘Standing Still’ as an exploration of the relationship between materials, gestures, time and the observer’s gaze, with an emphasis on slowing perception and attending to what is already present.

The exhibition will open with a vernissage on Sunday, 6 September, from 14:00 to 18:00, in the presence of Morvarid K. An artist talk is scheduled for 15:00. IN-DEPENDANCE lists its regular opening hours as Thursday through Sunday, 14:00 to 18:00, with visits also available by appointment. Morvarid K’s work is held in collections including MAC/VAL, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Centre national des arts plastiques, FRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Louis Roederer Foundation.