Visit: Double visit 'Le Décor et son Double'

On the occasion of the exhibition ‘Chambres d’Amis turns 40’, S.M.A.K. and Herbert Foundation are organising a series of double visits to explore both parts of Daniel Buren’s work Le Décor et son Double, Accompanied by a guide, you will walk from S.M.A.K. to Herbert Foundation, discovering along the way the story of ‘Chambres d’Amis’ with a visit to one of the former exhibition locations.

Photo-souvenir: Daniel Buren, Le Décor et son Double, work in situ, Raas van Gaverestraat 106, Ghent, 1986/2011. Detail. Photo: Isaac Ponseele.

Chambres d’Amis, 1986
In 1986, Jan Hoet, then director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, today called S.M.A.K., organised ‘Chambres d’Amis’. The exhibition showcased contemporary artworks in residential homes at different locations throughout Ghent. Daniel Buren was one of 51 artists to create an in situ work in the guestroom of Annick and Anton Herbert.

Buren’s work, Le Décor et son Double, was intended as a two-part work. Buren refused to fully leave the museum space behind, as Hoet had envisioned, and instead installed an almost identical reconstruction of the guestroom at the public Museum for Contemporary Art, then still housed in the Museum of Fine Arts.

After the exhibition closed, the Herberts kept Buren’s intervention in their guestroom. The work remains part of the Collection of Herbert Foundation to this day. The public part of Le Décor et son Double, the ‘copy’, was reconstructed and became part of the S.M.A.K. collection in 2011.

Chambres d’Amis turns 40, 2026
Both parts of Daniel Buren’s work Le Décor et son Double can now again be visited at the occasion of the exhibition ‘Chambres d’Amis turns 40’ at S.M.A.K.* A limited number of double visits are being organised by S.M.A.K. and Herbert Foundation as part of this exhibition.

A guide will lead visitors through the ‘Chambres d’Amis turns 40’ exhibition at S.M.A.K., which includes the public part of Le Décor et son Double. The group will then walk to Herbert Foundation, where they will explore the private part of Buren’s work through a guided visit.

Dates

• 21 June 2026
• 4 October 2026
• 25 October 2026
• 15 November 2026
• 10 Januari 2027

Timing

• 13:45 – meet at the S.M.A.K. information desk
• 14:00 – guided tour of ‘40 jaar Chambres d’Amis’ at S.M.A.K.
• 14:45 – guided walk to Herbert Foundation: the guide explains the story of ‘Chambres d’Amis’ during the walk there and one of the former locations along the route is visited
• 15:45 – guided visit to Le Décor et son Double at Herbert Foundation
• 16:30 – end

Practical info

• Children aged 10+ may attend
• This tour will be held in Dutch
• The guided walk from S.M.A.K. to Herbert Foundation is expected to take about an hour. The 106 Herbert Foundation buildings are moreover less easy accessible. The building has an elevator. Please send any questions related to accessibility to contact@herbertfoundation.org.
• In case of inclement weather, the city walk will be cancelled and a shuttle will be arranged to take visitors from S.M.A.K. to Herbert Foundation.

Tickets

• Entry ticket: 38 euros (rate per person), 25 euros (for those aged 26 or below) or 20 euros (for Museum Pass holders).
  No other discounts are offered.
• Purchase entry tickets

S.M.A.K. also offers visitors a complimentary entry ticket to visit the museum, a voucher to visit the museum a second time on another day, as well as a selection of ‘Chambres d’Amis’ postcards.

*For more information to visit the public part of the artwork shown at S.M.A.K.
For more information “to visit the private part of the work shown at Herbert” Foundation:https://herbertfoundation.org/nl/exhibitions/daniel-buren-le-decor-et-son-double-at-herbert-foundation