9 May–30 June 2025
This large textile piece is currently on show at The Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, temporarily replacing one of the 16th-century tapestries from the Museum’s permanent collection. Małgorzata Mirga-Tas’s intervention at the museum enters into dialogue eight of ten tapestries from the series The Story of Jacob, designed by Bernard van Orley and made in the workshop of Willem de Kempeneer in the 16th century. These tapestries are masterpieces of the genre and a rare examples of works of art in which Romani women and children were employed as models. The numerous portraits found their way to most of the tapestries making up the series, but they play a secondary role there, constituting an orientalist display intended to arouse the curiosity of recipients.
Małgorzata Mirga-Tas’s impressive work replaces one of the eight original elements of The Story of Jacob, reproducing the traditional structure of the 16th-century tapestry and its main scene. She reintroduces Romani motifs and images of Romani models which have become the central figures of the story. In this way, she reclaims their images and gives them a proactive role, rewriting the narrative of the “Story of Jacob” series and shifting the focus from non-Romani creators and collectors to those who have been ignored so far.
