Exhibition made in Belarus: when travel becomes a raison d’être
52 photographs paced by fragments of travel notes. This is the journey proposed within the walls of the Museum of Photography of Charleroi by Philippe Herbet, an artist who is as passionate about literature as he is about photography.
First impressions
As soon as you enter the exhibition hall, turn to your left and you will come face to face with an excerpt from the travel notes Philippe Herbet made during his journey to Belarus, a country that is not very well known despite its relative proximity. "Dorah had disappeared without a trace and I felt that I would never see her again. Never again." This excerpt resonates like a call for help for Dorah, a woman from Belarus that he seems to have loved for a winter in Berlin.
Then let your eyes wander beyond these few sentences. On your right you will come to a long series of portraits of women set one next to the other. These women probably have two things in common: their origin (Belarus) and the puzzled look they give the man who is taking their picture.
Taken together, these portraits seem to be the result of a quest. As if in a moment of despair, their author had forced himself to rediscover a part, perhaps infinitesimal, of his beloved Dorah in each of these women.
Philippe Herbet: A man who spreads his roots eastward
Why choose Belarus for this adventure? In fact, the country is only one stop in the travels Philippe Herbet began long ago. He started in Seraing, the city where he grew up then he explored his Turkish background more deeply during a stay in Istanbul. Finally, this Liegeois artist took a closer look at the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
His approach (which he calls "rhizome") consists in staying in these various regions until they seep into him. He appropriates them and assimilates them until they become his “home”, his new “roots”.
They may be new “roots” but he categorically refuses to “take root” in these places. As he says in one of the excerpts from his travel notes: "rhizome is never satisfied with (…) long stays. Even if I return to places I’ve already seen several times, that are almost familiar to me, I like the feeling of wandering: losing myself in the vacuity of things, of the world." No immobility, therefore. His thirst inevitably takes over and pushes him to continually extend his rhizome ever further eastward.
A museum in a park
You can make an expedition to the heart of Philippe Herbet’s rhizome at the Museum of Photography of Charleroi. The museum is located in a former convent in Mont-sur-Marchienne, a few kilometres from Charleroi.
The museum has grown since 2008 and a new wing has been added to the old convent. In addition to new exhibition rooms, the new wing also has a café, a magnificent winter garden and a library dedicated to photography.
The museum has a permanent collection which traces the history of photography from its origins to the most recent artists. The museum is full of educational rooms for all ages in which the optical, chemical and digital phenomena on which photography is based are explained.
In other words, the museum is a wonderful destination for families and friends which really has a great deal to offer its visitors.