As is my custom

In 2018, Maite Vanhellemont was a guest at the PLAN B Arts Festival as a member of the OUTLINE collective. In Bekegem, she stayed with a host family, Noël and Marijke, just like the other residents. A special bond developed which, despite their different world views, made a lasting impression on Maite. In the years that followed, she returned to Bekegem several times to work on Zoals mij gewoon is (As is my custom), a long-term project that takes the form of a collection of diary entries, photographs, prints and videos. 

At intervals, Maite became part of the daily life of this remarkable couple and their life in Dorpsstraat. Zoals mij gewoon is provides insight into an encounter between two worlds that at first glance seem very different. Maite lives in a large city in the Netherlands, while they live in a Belgian village with about a thousand inhabitants. Maite is an artist, Marijke works as a carer for elderly people in the mornings, but actually throughout the day. Noël makes kitchens and looks after the pigeons. This is no longer a hobby, but a lifestyle that determines the rhythm of the week. 

The pigeons are fed, released and return. We see Noël and Marijke walking through the garden, mowing the lawn, hanging out the washing. We see the kitchen and the dog photos on the wall. We see the seasons change, but the actions remain the same. They will probably never agree on issues such as Black Pete and immigration, but as time passes, a dialogue develops.

"On my last evening in Bekegem, I went for a drink with Noël at his brother's house. We sat in the garden and talked about the differences between us, and how they don't matter at all. He called himself old-fashioned, I prefer to say different. She asked me questions about my life in Amsterdam. How I live, where I live, how much I earn and how much rent I pay. About how I'm already thirty and don't have any children yet and certainly can't afford to buy a house.

Now I have to listen,
now I have to listen very carefully.

Photo 1: Marijke and Noël in Bekegem © Emma Keppens. Photo 2: Print on Marijke and Noël's garage door in preparation for the presentation of Zoals mij gewoon is © Maite Vanhellemont. 

BIO

Maite Vanhellemont (°1990, NL) is a visual artist and lecturer. She studied at the Utrecht School of the Arts and is still affiliated with this academy as a lecturer in the Photography and Image & Media Technology programmes. In September 2024, she will start the Master's programme 'Education in Arts' at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam.

Both alone and in collaboration with others, she works on a committed practice that focuses on exchange and interaction with a particular situation, place, person, or emotion. She does this by collecting what she sees, feels, smells, and experiences in the form of images, video, and text. Maite has exhibited in various places in the Netherlands and abroad. 

www.maitevanhellemont.nl

With the support of the Flemish Government and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Belgium.