Antwerp City Collection

In 1998, Els Dietvorst presents a pen drawing at the exhibition Mandrake, Manhole, Bunker, Trou, that unfolds on the walls of Brussels bar De Dolle Mol. For *Dooltocht/A desperate quest to find a base for hope, a new version will be realised in the M HKA. The wall drawing is reminiscent of ancient rock paintings; in it, people, trees and earth seem to be intertwined. The mandragora from the title is a plant that, allegedly, was already described on Assyrian clay tablets in the 15th century BC; in ancient times, magical powers were attributed to its root. But the work might just as well be a vision of the future. Dietvorst advocates a more cyclical approach to the concept of time, in which present, past and future are interconnected.