Newtopia: Human Rights Through Art in Mechelen

Newtopia, an ambitious exhibition across four venues in Mechelen, Belgium, from September 1 to December 10, 2012, examines the state of human rights through art from the past forty years. Curated by Katerina Gregos, the show features over seventy international artists of different generations, including historical figures like Andy Warhol, Hans Haacke, Leon Golub, David Goldblatt, and Mona Hatoum, alongside emerging voices. Many artists hail from countries where human rights struggles remain urgent—Russia, China, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and elsewhere—making the theme not abstract but lived reality. The exhibition aims to broaden horizons, break down barriers, and challenge preconceptions. Gregos emphasizes that Newtopia is an art exhibition, not a political manifesto; while some works were commissioned for the occasion, most preexisted the project. Seeing them in this context validates their relevance, as with Alfredo Jaar's works concurrently shown at ING Cultural Centre in Brussels.