Department of Architecture and Urban Planning

Portfolio "The Road Travelled - Antwerp's 19th-Century Belt 1993-2023

(19-09-2023)

De Afgelegde Weg - De negentiende-eeuwse gordel van Antwerpen 1993-2023In 1993, Antwerp was European capital of culture. Within the architecture programme Open City, coordinator Pieter Uyttenhove and photographers Hans Bol and Georges Charlier realised an exhibition in the then unoccupied Sint-Felix warehouse. Conceived as a walk through the empty building, the exhibition consisted of black-and-white photographs of neighbourhoods in the city's 19th-century belt.

Today, 30 years later, one can rediscover the work of Hans Bol and Georges Charlier. The photographers rephotographed the 1993 series from exactly the same vantage point. In addition, they added new images of neighbourhoods not yet or insufficiently portrayed in the previous edition and digitised the 1993 photos. With these ingredients, the new exhibition De Afgelegde Weg (The Road Travelled) has now been set up at the FelixArchief (6 Sept - 3 Nov 2023).

To accompany the exhibition, a portfolio will be published in the form of a handmade box containing an essay, maps and loose plates of photographs. The loose plates include 180 high-quality prints by Hans Bol and Georges Charlier from the 1993 campaign and from the new 2023 series. Almost half of the photographs are re-photography images. Pieter Uyttenhove's essay deals with the area of Antwerp's nineteenth-century belt, the changes the city has undergone and how the photographers photographed the different parts of the city. Detailed maps show for each photograph the exact location and indication of the shooting angle.

Description of the portfolio:

  • Title: The Departed Road. The nineteenth-century belt of Antwerp 1993-2023
  • authors: Hans Bol, Georges Charlier, Pieter Uyttenhove
  • one cahier 'Essay' of 32 pages.
  • a cahier 'Maps' of 32 pages.
  • a total of 180 photographs: 100 loose single plates (1 photograph per plate), 40 double-folded rephotograph plates (2 photos per plate)
  • a handmade silk-screened box (26.5 x 34 x 5.6 cm)
  • co-edition: Salto Ulbeek and Recto Verso Publications
  • ISBN 9789079898091

Limited edition numbered from 1/100 to 100/100
Price: €285 (excl. shipping)
Pre-subscription price €185 - valid until 3 November 2023
To order via deafgelegdeweg1993.2023@gmail.com
Delivery time: 3 weeks