The Road Travelled, photo exhibition at ZHAW, Winterthur (Zurich)
(04-11-2025)
The exhibition "The Road Traveled : Antwerp's Nineteenth-Century Belt 1993-2023" will be on display until Christmas at the ZHAW Faculty of Architecture in Winterthur (Zurich).
In 1993, Antwerp was European Capital of Culture. At that time, the 19th-century city belt – the area between the Leien and the Ring with Eilandje, Scheldekaden, Zuid, and the Oude Petroleumhaven – received little attention, in contrast to the historic center. While monuments and celebrations evoked the 'Golden Age' there, the belt remained an anonymous fringe of the city with contrasts: affluent neighbourhoods next to dreary suburbs, vacant buildings, and a lack of good infrastructure and housing.
Commissioned by the Open City project of Antwerp 93, European Capital of Culture, Hans Bol and Georges Charlier documented this urban diversity in 1993 with large-format black-and-white photographs. Their sober gaze revealed the hidden problems and possibilities of the area for the first time.
Thirty years later, the two photographers re-photographed the locations from 1993 and expanded the area to include locations that will undergo radical changes in the future. They worked with the same objective, documentary approach. Together, the series from 1993 and 2023 form an impressive archive that reveals the urban area and its changes in detail.
Exhibition and programme
The exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Civil Engineering at the ZHAW in Winterthur (Zurich) runs until December 20, 2025.
The opening will take place on October 20 at 6 p.m. (Blue Room, MC building) with contributions from Pieter Uyttenhove, emeritus professor at Ghent University, and Professor Tom Avermaete, professor at ETH Zurich.
On Monday, December 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. (Blue Room, MC building), there will be a panel discussion on photography and urban planning with photographers Hans Bol and Georges Charlier, photographer Ulrich Görlich, Antwerp city architect Christian Rapp, and urban planners.
Portfolio box
Portfolio box, limited numbered edition 1 to 30, 140 photographic plates, 180 photos, 2 booklets of 32 p. with text and location maps of all the photographed sites. Price: €235 (order: deafgelegdeweg1993.2023@gmail.com)