Hugo Roelandt

"Hugo Roelandt was an artist who inspired, and collaborated with, many people (and often quarrelled with them!), who needed friends as well as enemies, and who had an important influence on the art scene, first of Aalst and then of Antwerp and Belgium, and later among his students at the Royal Academy. Unsurprisingly, therefore, collaboration was central to his work. To each and every one of his performances, installations, exhibitions and videos he would invite friends, acquaintances, students and/or ex-students, artists, scientists, technicians and/or musicians to participate.

Originally the names of all participants were mentioned on the invitations and posters. That didn't present a problem until Roelandt, with Jan Hermans, Bob Van Aert, Greet Verlinden and myself participated in the 1985 Automobiënnale at The Middelheim. At the time, The Middelheim's administration was hardly familiar with 'collective' art projects and demanded a shorter name to fit on the traditional plate placed next to each artwork. That led to the name 'Hugo Roelandt and group', which was used for a couple of years for collective works developed under Roelandt's inspiration and direction."

Marc Holtof, Hugo Roelandt - Let's Expand the Sky, 2006, Occasional Papers, p.17