EDEN 2.023 · A New Perspective on Paradise

Within the framework of Art Nouveau Brussels 2023, twenty-five 80x120 photos by the photographer Violaine Alghisi mixing dance and architecture have been selected with the eyes and the heart for an immobile journey in the intimacy of the more confidential Masterpieces of Belgian Art Nouveau. The work produced by photographer Violaine Alghisi for this new exhibition expresses in a singular way both the architectural dimension of bodies and the organic corporality of Art Nouveau architecture. A proposal of in-between for a new perspective on a Paradise free of any religious dimension, except to consider its natural immanence. With EDEN 2.023, Violaine Alghisi exhumes with a gentle lightning the whole message of liberation and questioning of the classical norms and codes carried by the Art Nouveau in its time. Silhouettes, sometimes sensual, sometimes enigmatic, but always free, stand out like ghosts brought back to life on the walls and stained-glass windows of these monuments, reflections of a bygone era but nevertheless very present. In her photos, the calm of the place becomes a pretext for transgressing the common rules of museums: here, we dance on the furniture of the Villa Autrique, we choreograph the furniture of Hamesse and so much the worse for the frozen whiteness of the tablecloths, it is the majesty of the bodies in movement that asserts itself standing on the dining room table! A tender but impetuous artist, she gives us a look that mixes past and present, still and animated, which has chosen the more confidential Masterpieces of Belgian Art Nouveau as its setting. Her approach questions the biases of style to offer a delicately punk vision of a newly postulated life of a Belle Époque revisited... Created in the context of Art Nouveau Brussels 2023, the exhibition is accessible free of charge during the opening hours and days of the Ultieme Hallucinatie. Twenty-five 80x120 photos, colour or black and white, selected with the eye and the heart for an immobile journey into the mysteries of the Hôtel Cohn-Donnay, the Maison Autrique, the Hôtel Hannon, the Horta Museum and the Horta Chapel, or the Maison des Médecins de Charleroi... So many new stories told in light that intertwine to join those of the Hôtel Cohn-Donnay. And you, what will your story be there? The Artist Violaine Alghisi is a visual artist and photographer from Brussels with Italian origins. She is a reflection of her mixed cultures... Between Northern Surrealism and Latin Poetry, soft and baroque, her photographic adventures give a glimpse of powerful impressions of sensuality, strength and assumed tenderness. At the antipodes of the search for performance, her intimate work favours instinct and feeling, with the encounters that punctuate his life as material... De Ultieme Hallucinatie: Back to the roots The Hotel Cohn-Donnay - better known today by the name of the Brasserie it houses - is a symbol of Art Nouveau and is reviving its long tradition of art and culture. After having been the setting for the music and intimate life of the virtuosa Marie Pleyel, and then a mecca for the nightlife of the 1980s, it is now destined to highlight and preserve the stories and heritage it houses. Reopened to the public in 2019 by a lover of beautiful stones and the art of living, the building is resolutely accessible to all and now offers, in addition to its Belgian brasserie, event spaces and meeting rooms. It has also become a refuge for Brussels storytellers every third Friday of the month, the venue for the Hallucinated Visits by the Brussels zieverologist Phillipe Baudot, as well as for jazz projects orchestrated by Bénédicte Williot. The long work of preserving and restoring the architectural heritage and the somewhat crazy project of creating the Marie Pleyel Museum are also well underway. However, it is possible that the opening of our Jazz Cabaret and our first classical concerts will precede them. A little time, a lot of work and a lot of fun ahead... For Art Nouveau Brussels 2023, we are pleased to produce and host an exhibition combining the architecture of bodies with Art Nouveau and to host the closing night of the BANAD festival. What do all these proposals have in common? Perhaps a desire for excellence and a little extra soul. And if you too came to join the Ultieme to the Pleasant...