“‘Brussels is a Plaizier’ – Expo at BOZAR

Old photographs fascinate me. When I see a photo of urban landscapes from 50-60 years ago, I always try to imagine how those people portrayed on the picture lived and behaved. I wonder what those people where thinking about (are many of them still alive and observing the transformation of the city?). The black-white shots get coloured in my mind.

I’m now in my twenties, so reading historical articles and books helps me to realize and understand how and what happened during the 20^th century.  

That’s why I took the chance to visit the gallery ‘Brussels is a Plaizier’ in BOZAR. It is a an expo with hundreds of old photographs made in Brussels from the end of the 19^th century until the end of the 20^th century. This collection comes from the publishing house and shop ‘Plaizier‘ which sells old postcards and books. Since 1977 this Brussels publishing house has built up an image library including vintage postcards, prints, calendars and books.

The evolution of the architecture, cars, fashion and technology during this period is remarkable. The gallery shows photographs of buildings in ‘Art Nouveau’ style, the Martini Tower and compositions designed for Expo ’58. A lot of these buildings already disappeared.

Still, we can see that the city people always had the same habits during those decades: going to eat for dinner, visiting festivities (expo ’58), enjoying a coffee in the sun, hiding from the inevitable rain, enjoying a walk or a book in the park, etc…

The free poster of the Martini Tower and an oversight of Brussels was a nice surprise that you can take with you after visiting this expo.

(PS : If you want to see some extra urban art, just walk around BOZAR and enjoy the beautiful paintings made by urban artists).

Date : until 10/09/2017
Place: BOZAR, Ravensteinstraat 23, 1000 Brussel
Price : € 6 – 4 / -26 and jobseekers / on Wednesdays: € 2″

Author of the post:
Meredith Geldof is a Flemish girl who moved to Brussels and enjoys exploring the city. She runs the instagram account @ellesbxl together with her sister Josefien. Visit their profile to follow more of their adventures ?