— Patria (Vive le roi ! Vive la république!) | 2008
Koen Theys

PATRIA (Vive le Roi, Vive la République!) debuted as a performance on May 10, 2008, at Brussels' Martyrs' Square during the KunstenFestivaldesArts. Set on the historic square before the Flemish Parliament, where nearly 400 martyrs of the Belgian Revolution are interred, the event was captured from multiple perspectives by seven video cameras.

​

Inspired by Gustave Wappers’ monumental painting Episode of the September Days 1830 on the Grand Place of Brussels (1835), housed at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels, Theys’s work echoes the national symbolism embedded in Wappers' depiction of Belgian independence. Like Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830), an icon of the French Revolution, Wappers’ painting has become emblematic of Belgium’s own revolutionary fervour.

​​

In PATRIA, however, the impassioned revolutionaries of Wappers' canvas are replaced by contemporary riot police, portrayed in scenes of ironic repose beside their dogs and horses. From this surreal tableau, the police sporadically shout slogans, ranging from patriotic affirmations like "Long live the king!" to absurd proclamations—"Long live the sky!", "Long live democracy!", "Long live my mother!"—echoing across the square in Belgium’s three official languages: Dutch, French, and German, along with snippets of Arabic. Through this cacophony of slogans, a blend of political ideals and humorous banalities emerges, calling into question the sincerity and coherence of modern ideological expressions.

​

Theys’s work subtly dialogues with philosopher Francis Fukuyama’s thesis in The End of History and the Last Man (1992), which posits that history has reached its terminus in a post-ideological era, where grand narratives have been supplanted by neoliberal pragmatism. Through Patria, Theys interrogates the very notion of historical progression and the possibility of crafting a "history piece" within a society ostensibly beyond ideology.

 

By juxtaposing the symbols of past revolutions with today’s symbols of authority, Theys explores whether meaning and historical consciousness can persist in a post-historical world, exposing the tensions between the trivial and the transcendent in contemporary culture.