Generation A: 50s in Antwerp Relived

Look. Evoke. Shake. Flicker.

An admiration of images then, a record of life now, a salute to the past, a celebration of the present, and a quest for the future.

How often do we look back? What are we looking at when we look into the past? In an attempt to find answers, a student team from KU Leuven’s Master of Cultural Studies made an open call to emerging photographers spotlighting Generation A – A referring to Antwerp, a city assigned great significance and aesthetic values. Under the framework of the EC funded project ‘50s in Europe Kaleidoscope’, these young creatives were invited to rewash negatives of the 50s and give way to their experience of (re)living the past, creating a bridge between the post-war society of the 1950s and young citizens today. After months of search and discovery, we are nearly ready to share and engage you with a photographic dialogue between (the representation of) life in Antwerp in the 50s and now.

Bridging then and now

In the framework of the exhibition “Blue Skies, Red Panic”, which showcases photographs of the 50’s in Europe, we set up our own sub-exhibition, which is now nearly ready to be visited. Following one of the aims of the ‘Kaleidoscope’ project – to create a bridge between today’s viewers and the 1950s post-war generation, making heritage more accessible and relatable – we focused on Antwerp with an open call to emerging local artists. These artists engaged with selected photographs of the 50s in Antwerp – transforming, interpreting and actualising them, and looking at the past as an inspiration to create new meaning. The connection of the old and the new, the past and the present, resulted in the exhibition “Generation A”. We also invited established photographers and artists to pre-view the submitted works, giving us and the emerging artists a professional opinion. With the exhibition we do not only want to contribute to the bigger ‘Kaleidoscope’ project and engage more users to interact with heritage and history, but we also want to give emerging photographers and artists a stage and platform to present their work.

Vernissage & Exhibition

On January 9^th the doors of KU Leuven Campus Antwerpen will open for the Vernissage of not only “Blue Skies, Red Panic”, but also “Generation A”. From 6pm onwards visitors are welcome to stroll through the exhibition engaging with heritage and building bridges to today’s life, experiencing the present art-scene of upcoming artists in Antwerp. The Vernissage is accompanied by a reception and opening speeches by Prof. Dr. Bart Van Looy, Academic Dean of Flanders Business School, and Professor Fred Truyen, from the Cultural Studies Department of KU Leuven.