The Belgians, the Americans, & You

A rare moment, which is both personal and collaborative, an installation that weaves a long narrative also rooted in the present. You become the protagonist of a performance. The genesis of this project was the great World Expo taking place in Brussels in 1958. It was the first after World War II and the symbol -as well as the signal- of a world that expresses with strength and inventiveness its energy, modernity and confidence in the future. Our lens is grounded in the present and the relevance of pivotal moments in design and creation, while projecting these into the future, appealing to sensitivity and curiosity. The thread that ties it all together is an original duo scenario-orchestration, to be discovered at Delvaux, Place Vendôme, in company of le Brillant and Saul Steinberg.

With his mural “The Americans”, Saul Steinberg designed a major work for the World Expo. We present it here for the first time outside museum walls, and therefore going back to its original purpose.

This major work designed for the American Pavilion is a monument of more than 80 meters long and 3 meters high. It narrates and interrogates America and its way of life at the dawn of its extraordinary expansion in the 1960s. The perspective, the graphics, the techniques employed, and its vast scale remain strikingly contemporary. We are very happy to be at the source of this rediscovery project, and above all, very grateful to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium -and their director Kim Oosterlinck- for agreeing to lend us three large original panels, an exceptional and resolutely pioneering gesture. We also thank the Saul Steinberg Foundation for its ongoing trust and support.

The overall project becomes an installation-performance, made out of contrasts, yet completely in harmony.