“A monumental act of faith in a future of progress”, as described at its inauguration in 1954, the Palais des Expositions de Charleroi has now lost its splendour and seems to crystallize the issues that the entire city is facing.­

From 31.08 to 9.09. 2012, , the exhibition VILLE EN ABÎME presented in this gigantic congress centre the works of 25 artists that came to Charleroi for a residency. In the entrance hall, HOTEL CHARLEROI proposed a subjective Mise en Abyme of the city by curating six of its remarkable figures.

Paul Bruijninckx // Eva Engelbert & Paula Pfoser // Søren Engsted // E.O.R (Entreprise d’Optimisation du Réel) // Paul Fägerskiöld // Isidore Haller // Paul Hendrikse // Friedemann Hörner // Manfred Hubmann & Josh Gura // Ludwig Kittinger // Jens Klein // LABEL + ORTHODOXE architecture // Martin Laborde // Alissone Perdrix // Georg Petermichl // Kurt Ryslavy // Jean-Baptiste Sauvage // Hans Schabus // Arne Schmitt // Serge Stephan // Johanna Tinzl & Stefan Flunger // Robin Vanbesien // Emmanuel Van der Auwera // Nicolas Buissart, CPAS Charleroi, Gert Robijns, Le Rockerill, Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe and Jean Yernaux presented by HOTEL CHARLEROI

The following pictures document the exhibition VILLE EN ABÎME. The Booklet which was produced on this occasion can be downloaded here.

Jean Yernaux (BE, *1930), Projets architecturaux et urbanistiques, période 1960 -2000
Entrance Hall
Plasterboard wall with 218 A3 colour copies of Jean Yernaux’s archive

HOTEL CHARLEROI(BE/FR/AT), 40.000 Formulaires
Entrance Hall
40.000 blank health insurance forms, stored in the archive of CPAS (social service) Charleroi

Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe (BE, *1944), Le port de Bastia (2007)
Entrance Hall
A painting of Charleroi’s former mayor, on loan from the art collection of the Walloon Parliament

Gert Robijns (BE, *1972), Julien du lait

Entrance Hall
A model of Gert Robijns’ studio and loft in Charleroi

Nicolas Buissart (BE, *1979), Charleroi Adventure
Entrance Hall and city centre
Urban safaris on saturdays and sundays starting from the Palais des Expositions

Michael Sacchi & Benito Artoy (BE, *1966, 1966), Le bar
Entrance Hall
A skyline-bar conceived by Le Rockerill, an underground cultural centre in Charleroi’s industrial zone

Søren Engsted (DK, *1974), Lockers for the Light
5 lockers with various soap bottles and a video with a mouse

Alissone Perdrix (FR, *1985), Charleroi, les enfants jouent
A film about playgrounds in Charleroi and how children use them

Ludwig Kittinger (AT, *1977), Edge Effects
Ruderal plants and infusion drinks recipes

Manfred Hubmann & Josh Gura (AT/US, *1985, 1975), Un grand Gramophone
A big turntable to play “rock music”

Emmanuel Van der Auwera (BE, *1982), A Billion Square Circles
LIDAR scans of quarries in the Sambre Valley

Paul Bruijninckx (NL, *1974), Sauter
Filmloop with a jump

Hans Schabus (AT, *1970), 186 cm
The artist’s shirt hanging on one of the hall’s overhead cranes

Robin Vanbesien (BE, *1979), Measures and Thieves (What Has Always Been Possible to Say)
10 silk screen prints on wooden boards

LABEL + ORTHODOXE architecture (BE), Ville d’attente
A queuing barrier system made out of paper and cardboard

Arne Schmitt (DE, *1984), O.T. (FOR CHARLEROI)
Photo series shot on the way from Charleroi’s station to the airport

Jean-Baptiste Sauvage (FR, *1977), Charleroi troisième (fois)
A scaleless topography hanging over the central staircase

Jens Klein (DE, *1970), The City Archives
A selection of documentary photographs from Charleroi’s City Archives (ACEC 1950-1954, Le Rappel 1968-1985)

Martin Laborde (FR, *1983), Untitled
3 metallic tubes, parts of a former dismantled sculpture

Friedemann Hörner (DE, *1979), Tout pourrait disparaître
2-channel slide-show with image and text

Eva Engelbert & Paula Pfoser (AT, *1983, 1982), Carsid
A film shot on an abandoned industrial site

Paul Hendrikse (BE, *1977), All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast
A set of works drawing on Walden, the first Dutch anarchist colony

Paul Fägerskiöld (SE, *1982), Tribute to the Colors of a Palais
Oil on metal plates

Georg Petermichl (AT, *1980), Universal Thoughts : The Dog Parallel
2 industrial lamps facing each other, 2 subwoofers vibrating with barking sounds

Johanna Tinzl & Stefan Flunger (AT, *1976, 1969), Portamento
Installation with bricks, text and sound performed by the former Charleroi punk band SIC

Serge Stephan (FR, *1971), Charleroi Nails
A big amount of Water Marble tutorials shot in different places of the Palais (see here!)

Kurt Ryslavy (AT, *1961), National Performance Framework
Performance with police tape and a model of the artist’s house

Entreprise d’Optimisation du Réel (BE), Le Combat de Carnaval et Carême
Sound performance with 30 musicians for the opening of the exhibition (Photos Stéphane Bednarek)

Isidore Haller (BE, *1983), La fin des usines
Industrial wasteland, Route latérale
Closing event with shooting sessions and bar

VILLE EN ABÎME was produced with the support of Charleroi Expo, the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and BPS22, Espace de création contemporaine de la Province de Hainaut.