With For the time being, Pavel Büchler has arranged for a single diamond to be permanently installed at the Royal Atheneum in Antwerp. The diamond will be embedded in a windowpane of the schools’ AthenA hall, but it will be worth slightly less than the window. Any attempt to get the diamond back out will destroy the window and overwrite the value added by the diamond. In economic terms, without an exchange value the diamond adds zero value, which leaves it to breathe and be on the terms Büchler would prefer: as art.

Based in Antwerp’s diamond district, the Royal Atheneum was founded in 1807 by Napoleon. Guided by principal Karin Heremans, and thanks to a group of dedicated teachers, the school has become renowned for the value it places on the arts in its pedagogical programme. Through collaborations with some of today’s most outstanding artists, it positively stimulates intercultural discourse and experimentation.