“Extra-muros, Beyond the Walls”: the new exhibition at Liège-Guillemins station – La Libre

Since the dawn of time, humans have built walls – to shut themselves in, to protect themselves, or even to express themselves. Whether historical, psychological or even made of plants, these barriers have become part of our everyday lives and reveal many facets of our reality.

With the exhibition “Extra Muros, Beyond the Walls”, Europa Expo invites the public, from 22 April, to discover the wall in all its forms through immersive, interactive and surprising settings. From the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall, by way of the sound barrier, “Extra Muros, Beyond the Walls” offers an original reading of the world through its emblematic walls.

Drawing on objects and works of art from private collections as well as Belgian and foreign institutions, including the Musée du Louvre, Europa Expo once again presents an exhibition of international standing that will leave no one indifferent.

While previous exhibitions covered historical subjects (Napoleon, Tutankhamun) or evoked an atmosphere (I love Japan), “Extra Muros, Beyond the Walls” tackles a universal theme and questions the world through its walls, in order to understand them better – and thus understand ourselves better. Philippe Raxhon, professor of contemporary history at the University of Liège and novelist, is the exhibition’s scientific curator.

Rather than following a chronological path, the exhibition is divided into three successive parts to highlight the many meanings of walls: walls that oppress and confine, followed by walls of memory and walls that protect, ending with walls that express – liberating walls.

The starting point is the Planck wall, the boundary between the physical world and the world of pure mathematics. This boundary is the limit of time between before and after the Big Bang. This membrane, enclosed in the space-time cone, contains the whole universe and yet is even smaller than an atom.

Our skull, too, is a wall that humans have tried to breach since prehistoric times. Through a magnificent collection of tools, bones and even mummies, visitors discover the astonishing techniques used by medicine throughout history to understand the brain and mental illness. After the Great Wall of China and the walls of Babylon and Berlin, today’s anti-migrant walls and the sanitary walls protecting us from the Covid-19 pandemic have become new borders imposed by humans. The exhibition also highlights the walls offered by nature, which contribute to the richness of our environment, such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Green Wall.

Art is the highlight of this exhibition. The wall has indeed often been used as a medium of expression: street art, cave art… The works of great artists such as Shamsia Hassani, an Afghan graffiti artist and associate professor at Kabul University, or Lord Anthony Cahn demonstrate the liberating role inherent in this form of expression. Powerful paintings by prisoners offer visitors another view of prison life and of the inhumanity of isolation between four walls. Finally, the Liège association Creham showcases original works by its residents, bringing the wall of laughter to life and thus breaking down the wall of mental disability.

The exhibition also features an escape game as well as an immersive and interactive trail, making it a unique experience to share with the family, thanks to the agency Hovertone, which uses new technologies to create interactive visual experiences.

By journalist Aude Quinet

Original link: ”Extra-muros, au-delà des murs” : la nouvelle expo à la gare de Liège-Guillemins – La Libre