Tarquinia (2006)

Marie Julia Bollansée's 2006 video installation, "Tarquinia," presented at M HKA Antwerpen in 2007, takes its name from an ancient Etruscan city near Rome. Once the most important of the Etruscan League's cities, Tarquinia is now famous for its necropolis, an underground cemetery with over six thousand tombs adorned with vibrant murals. However, Bollansée’s work draws little from this history. "Tarquinia" is a three-part projection centered on a festively set table, with a constantly changing group of guests – a scene loosely inspired by Tarquinia's ancient wall paintings. While it evokes the imagery of the Last Supper, the work focuses on a sense of joyful beginning rather than a grand, tragic conclusion.