Can a photograph say something about the world we live in? Max Pinckers (BE, 1988) places photography under the microscope. He explores the boundaries of documentary and reveals its manipulative nature. His artistic response is “speculative documentary”, a blending of fact and fiction. FOMU presents the first retrospective to cover the past five years of Pinckers’ work.

Margins of Excess takes us inside the sensational narratives of six individuals for whom fantasy and imagination are a way of life. Red Ink emerged from an assignment in North Korea. Pinckers used artificial light to draw attention to the staged nature of the images.

Controversy and Trophy Camera pose critical questions about the credibility of iconic photographs. For his most recent ongoing project, Unhistories—exhibited here for the first time—Pinckers tells the underreported story of the colonial violence perpetrated by the British regime against Kenyans during the country’s struggle for independence. Thousands of people held in detention camps were victims of torture and executions at the hands of their colonial oppressors.

Max Pinckers exhibits worldwide and is the driving force behind the Lyre Press publishing house, which publishes all his work. He is co-founder of The School of Speculative Documentary and from 2015 to 2021 was a doctoral researcher at KASK School of Arts, Ghent.

Simultaneously with the exhibition, Hannibal publishes the book 'Max Pinckers', author Hans Theys. The book is for sale in the museum shop for €49.95.

Artists: Max Pinckers