Written in a time of European disaster, Paul Van Ostaijen (1896-1928), published `Occupied City’, a collection of poems that seized the zeitgeist of Antwerp during the World War I occupation. With outspoken typography, a montage of ballsy, graphical and playful pits of observation and thought, Van Ostaijen rendered an avant-garde manuscript with a punchy, political undertone.
100 Years later, the BA3 Photography students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts revisit this iconic work and occupy the windows of Sint-Jorispoort. Students visually interpretate various themes found within the pages, such as: destroyed architecture, memory and resistance, mental health and loss.

In the context of ‘Van Ostaijen Leeft’ and in collaboration with Het Letterenhuis.

(photo announcement © Miguel Rózpide Pazó)