Expo: Raising our roots – Bruxelles à travers onze ogen

Temporary exhibition “Raising our roots – Bruxelles à travers onze ogen” runs at the House of European History until 31 October 2025. The expo is created by the Echoes collective, a group of 15 young adults from Brussels aged between 18 and 26, from different neighbourhoods, with a shared interest in Europe’s past, present and future. Together, they explored who is represented in history, how, and why, and what this means to young people today.

“Raising our roots – Bruxelles à travers onze ogen” is a free temporary exhibition, in a space on the sixth floor of the House of European History, which looks at representation in history. It was created by the Echoes collective, a group of young adults from Brussels, with a shared interest in Europe’s past, present and future.

Annelies Van Rijen, Outreach Coordinator and Project lead at the House of European History explains why this museum represents a unique space to unpack themes such as representation, storytelling and heritage – “A history museum can never be exhaustive. Discussing the themes of the museum with 15 different young adults, and turning these reflections into content for a temporary exhibition, has been incredibly enriching for everyone involved.”

Presented in an audio-visual setting which recreates the atmosphere of the city, from its metro, parks, and people’s homes, the stories told in “Raising our roots” contrast European history as shown in the museum, with intimate realities from Brussels and narratives on migration throughout time. Visitors are invited to experience the in-between-ness of the everchanging city that is Brussels.

Constanze Itzel, Museum Director, shared the vision behind this unique exhibition: “We are committed to showing European history from multiple perspectives. By inviting young people from Brussels to create within our museum space, we gain fresh and critical views at our shared past and its traces in our city”.

You can visit the expo at the House of European History in Brussels until 31 October 2025.