Julie Van Kerckhoven

During a walk in the Stokvelde neighbourhood, Julie became fascinated by the 1970s architectural style that characterises some of the houses. A striking feature is that the roofs sometimes seem to cover the entire house, from the ground up. This appeals to the imagination. What is hidden under those large roofs? What normally remains invisible? She photographed the interiors of these houses, and by removing these roofs as an element from the neighbourhood, she also responds to something else that fascinates her. In her home city of Brussels, she is overwhelmed every day by a multitude of images, neon lights and posters. Here, everything is more serene. By declaring these roofs to be 'images' and exhibiting them publicly in the neighbourhood, she provides an answer to this.

Julie on the Stokvelde neighbourhood, her creative process, and the tour she presented around her work.

The first thing that struck me in the neighbourhood was Cathy and Luc's house, which has a roof that extends to the ground. I discovered that there were more houses like this with a typical 1970s style. That became the starting point for my work. I rang the doorbell and asked to photograph the space under the roof from the inside, in order to make the invisible visible. These are storage spaces, each with their own specific order and structure. You will also recognise these forms in the structure in which I will present my photographs.

With my work, I mainly want to create recognition and connection with the public. As soon as I entered people's homes, everyone was very open, and I heard many stories. Perhaps partly in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, people really need to be able to talk to each other, to feel more connected again.