Centre of Visual Arts

Centre of Visual Arts opts for variation

Centre of Visual Arts is the new building for visual culture. Located in the Reigerstraat, it is the venue for two photographic exhibitions and a video installation.

Much of the space is taken up by the series ‘Halaal Art’ by the Essop Brothers. The twins grew up in South Africa – in the Rylands area of Cape Town, to be precise. During the era of apartheid, this district was frequently the scene of riots between activists and the police.

In two minds

Hasan and Husein Essop are Muslims – a theme that runs through their work. What does it mean for a Muslim to grow up in a secular environment where Muslims are a minority, faced with the temptations of western-oriented culture on the one hand, and with the appeal of religious devotion on the other?

The identity of the two brothers in relation to each other is a thread that ties their images together. As twins they are a sort of duplication of each other as it were: ‘Who am I and who is the other?’ They play with this theme in their photos. The viewer sees images featuring a number of identical figures – the brothers themselves, cloned not once, but several times.

A glimpse of a private life

The Belgian Elisa Brenters takes pictures of her daily life, photographing her interior, the garden at night, her cat, and the journeys she makes. The photos are really intended for someone else. The viewer is allowed a glimpse of Elisa’s private life, and we get to know her. She takes the photos with an inexpensive analogue camera.

In a hurry on the escalator
The video montage ‘Construction of Six Escalators’ is by Chloé Dierckx from Belgium. She constructed an image that features the same escalator six times. From a fixed point, we see people moving up and down the escalators. Passers-by move forward, each at their own speed – some of them slowly, but more often than not a great hurry. The escalator as a symbol of our hectic, transitory society.

Centre of Visual Arts

Reigerstraat 16
Opening times

Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.