Benjamin Duquenne

The Völklingen Ironworks flooded in red light
Copyright: Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte | Oliver Dietze

Benjamin Duquenne Portrait Credit Lucia Solano

Benjamin Duquenne Portrait Credit Lucia Solano
Copyright: Lucia Solano

born 1979 in Roubaix, France
lives and works across borders in northern France and Belgium

Werke

Regenera

Benjamin Duquenne REGENERA BD

Benjamin Duquenne REGENERA BD
Copyright: ADAGP, Paris, 2024

Date

2024, in situ

Description

Angkor Wat – here, in Völklingen? It is an association that may well come to mind when viewing the installation of French artist Benjamin Duquenne. Regenera is a botanic creature made of innumerable tree branches gathered in the Franco-German border region – or, more precisely, from the commune of Hestroff, from the Warndt area and from the site of the Völklingen Ironworks itself. This practice is in keeping with Duquenne’s cross-border work, which also investigates the topic of biodiversity. His fantastic beast has taken up residence above a tar pit of the former coking plant, in the paradise of the World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte. Its mission is to clean the air, no less – and, with the aid of its roots, to free the soil from decontamination and thereby make it habitable, once again, for other species. In a sign that his endeavour seems to be working, the artist was visited by a kingfisher on several occasions during his residence. The reawakening of once abandoned places is a central motif in Benjamin Duquenne’s work.

Jeanette Dittmar