La Ville Noire: The Dark Heart of Europe
Opening on June 8th, 20h
Exhibition from 9th June to 5th July
Charleroi, fifty kilometres from Brussels, has become the dark heart of Europe. Giovanni Troilo spent some time researching the zone, where part of his family had immigrated from Italy to work in the steel industry. Thanks to this proximity, Troilo entered the “dark heart” of the city, scratching away the surface of the lives of its inhabitants. What he finds (high unemployment, petty crime, and declining social welfare) becomes a metaphor for contemporary European society. His journey into the bowels of the European Union, with its unsettling images and unexpected turns, reveals a general crisis of identity and a situation of social alarm that is affecting all of Europe.
Troilo’s images go below the surface of what was once a “promised land” and is now in decline. His work has two aspects: a vein of documentary research into a complex set of circumstances, complemented by carefully conceived images that reflect an emotional response and a personal vision. The result is a solid narrative that questions our roots and our values.
