tell all the truth but tell it slant –

This group exhibition borrows its title from Emily Dickinson’s homonymous poem, in which the poet invites us to be radically honest, but to tell the truth indirectly, at an angle, so as not to shock or overwhelm.

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —

The exhibition is conceived as a series of figurative circles, each of them touching upon the truth from a different angle, with a different perspective and interpretation. The questions rising are thus varied, open and layered: from the relationship between truth and knowledge, the opposition of certainty and doubt, to the snares of lies; from the writing of history to the complexity of belief systems, passing by the role of consciousness, the mind and the body.

Next to the works of the artists, a number of scientists, philosophers, epistemologists and experts from different fields have been invited to contribute to the exhibition, offering to the public reflections, insights and considerations from the most diverse perspectives of contemporary society and trying to answer a number of questions: what is true, how is it decided, and by whom? What is the scientific method, and should it be questioned? Is science always right? And if so, what are its domains of validity?

The strategic collaboration with the asbl Face B aims at actively involving transgenerational and often marginalised groups. By developing a programme of participative activities and moment of exchange, Tell All The Truth But Tell It Slant —  keeps into consideration a diversity of questions, interests and ideas in order include, rather than exclude, refusing a format imposed from above. Can we collectively reflect on how knowledge, and therefore truth, is constructed in our society?