En attendant
Hilde Van Gelder

Opening July 10, 2025 - 4 PM

Dear friends of the arts,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to my solo-exhibition En Attendant at KEI, a rehabilitation center by the sea situated in the coastal resort of Coxyde.

On the opening day, July 10, 2025, I will be present at 4 PM to give a guided tour of the artworks on display.

En attendant seeks to attract curiosity, and spark imagination, in relation to complex topics such as recovery and ecology. Upon a generous invitation by Sabine De Brabant, its director, I have pursued an experimental art research trajectory. This has resulted in a multi-media installation that includes oil paintings as well as old and new photographs, shot on land and at sea with an emphasis on sustainable practice. All works have been created in close dialogue with this special building, still well-embedded in the natural beauty of the sand dunes. En attendant invites you to discover the soul of the place. Animated by its staff and residents, KEI radiates a magical energy infused by care and hospitality.

In the ambulatory corridor of the clinic, a five meters long magnetic wall will be filled with replicas of ancient postcards from my personal collection, mostly depicting the Belgian Westcoast dunes in a relatively pristine state. In a Proustian sense they seek to provide clues to what can touch or move us about these dunes, for example evoking the memory of carefree play within this more-than-human environment during holidays spent at the seaside.

By September 27, 2025, when the finissage event is held, a large set of new postcards will replace these replicas. They will have been posted in a letter box at KEI itself or have been sent by regular mail to the clinic by employees, patients, their caregivers as well as other visitors to the exhibition. Everyone is encouraged to become a co-creator of this unconventional and intergenerational Rehabilitation-Motivation Wall. Its grid-like surface will come to pay tribute to the force emerging from being motivated for recovery −  be it as an individual or collectively, while aspiring for a future, more harmonious balance between humans, flora, and fauna. Thus, we will reflect together upon potentialities − that about which we do not yet have much knowledge, but for which we can yearn together in the meantime.

Should you wish to visit the exhibition at a later occasion, this is possible daily until September 30, 2025. The best time to come is during the opening hours of the cafeteria on the 5th floor (10 AM – 5:45 PM, every day).

Part of my work is on view there and a coffee, a drink or a snack while enjoying the amazing panorama of the North Sea is simply irresistible.