Abstract
Based on BXL Universel – the first part of the trilogy of exhibits on Brussels proposed by CENTRALE for contemporary art – we explore the concept of an “exhibit/portrait of a city”. The 2017 exhibit met the challenge of presenting a city by making Brussels a “creative home port”, by showing the continuity between its past and its present, and by making portraits of it which were diverse as well as subjective. The exhibit created by Carine Fol is put into perspective, both in the context of other exhibits devoted to Brussels in recent years, and of recent research on portraits of territories. This article thus intends to lay the foundations for an analysis of exhibits/portraits of cities in general, and proposes several approaches to the specificity of Brussels as a city being presented, by insisting in particular on the significance of folklore, the foreign perspective and the collective dynamic.
Highlights
Behind the simple words “lives and works in Brussels”, there is often a true territorial anchoring and a “sense of something shared”6 tied to a common place, the city, the municipality, the neighbourhood, the street, the studio, or even housing
This vision of anchored and territorialised art is shared by Carine Fol, who does not want to separate creation from existence, and who considers the emotional bond between artists and a city as essential
Seldom mentioned until now and under-represented in Carine Fol’s exhibit – unlike Szeemann’s very literary thematic exhibits – they move about in the catalogue in the case of BXL Universel. These texts by Marc Didden, Thomas Gunzig, Khaled Khalifa and Caroline Lamarche explore the tensions, the difficulties and the singularities of the city which are suggested in the presentation, to the extent that they suggest others
Summary
In Brussels, the Marché aux Puces, referred to as the “Vieux Marché” or “Marché de la Place du Jeu de Balle”, comes to mind first It is around this “heart of the city” that a certain number of those whom Carine Fol refers to as the “figures of Brussels” gravitate, in particular Jean-Pierre Rostenne, an emblematic figure from the Marolles who died in 2017, and who was a reflection of the city because he had lived in Africa. Apart from the Marché aux Puces, Carine Fol mentions three “figures of Brussels” whom she feels are important: Elvis Pompilio and his shop – which was the place to be in the 1980s and 1990s – Stromae and Arno These Brussels figures mix experience, work and a city.
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