img. courtesy KU Leuven.
After the nice success of the Europeana Migration exhibition “Thousands are Sailing” in Pisa (12 October – 11 November 2018), the 20 portraits of people who left their homes chasing a dream moved to Belgium.
On the occasion of the Day of Science, the 25th November, Leuven University hosted the Thousands are Sailing exhibition in the magnificent framework of the University Hall. For this Belgian edition of Thousands are Sailing, a Dutch version of the stories was prepared for anyone in Leuven to be inspired.
About 1.000 people from very young kids to science-enthusiasts of a respectable age visited the Universiteitshallen, where the exhibition (and of course lots of other science projects) was presented. The images were posted in the central hallway and on the stairs and anyone visiting the building met with the selection of portraits in this exhibition. In addition, the Day of Science included a series of lectures, within which Photoconsortium president Fred Truyen and the exhibition curator Sofie Taes gave talks on Photographic Heritage in the Digital Age, discussing both the more technical-historical and philosophical insights into vintage photography, and in the ‘reframing’ of that photographic heritage by initiatives such as Europeana.
With this effort, Thousands are Sailing formed part of the wide range of activities offered in Leuven on this international Day of Science: from a mini-concert-trajectory in different university buildings, a solar-empowered top race car, presentations about weather systems, magnets, yeast, forensic sciences and ‘single cell research’, to a geological walk through the city of Leuven.
All photos courtesy Fred Truyen.
Thousands are Sailing
Leuven University, 25 November 2018
Curator: Sofie Taes (PHOTOCONSORTIUM / KU Leuven)
