The first of the three phases is aligned with The Waxing Crescent Moon Phase. During two days, lectures, performances, screenings, installation and discussions will address the themes and associations related to a state that comes just before the completion, of a phase that is in progress and in growth.

The second weekend is aligned with the Full Moon Phase. This phase is mainly associated with completeness, sustainability, responsibility, taking care and accountability. The projects presented in this phase are critically engaged with the social and political forms of ecology and the impact that has on everyday life and our food production and consumption, such as circular agriculture or climate grief. Other projects continue the research and conversations about socio-ethical and political conditions and lives in former empires such as the former Belgian colonies.

‘The Waning Crescent Moon Phase’ is the last of the three public moments of ‘Coltan as Cotton’, the Contour Biennale 9. The main theme of this closing phase is the near future, but just like the moon cycle, it is understood as an ongoing transformation into present and past. Artists were commissioned to research and work on their projects for the duration of one year, which has resulted in several world premieres, presentations and performances. These works will be presented to offer insight into alliances of social or political accountability in relation to the colonial period and contemporary structural racism. Along with this, ecological and societal degrowth and aspirations for hope and propositional thinking have always been important aims. During the closing phase, the biennial will draw conclusions concerning its desire to instigate some relevant discussions for the social, ecological and political realities of the city of Mechelen, its region, and the organisation that hosts the biennial itself.