Two and a half years ago, we embarked on an ambitious project: to let the names of all 25,843 Jews, Roma, and Sinti deported from Mechelen resonate once more. Each name is spoken by a unique voice.
As a powerful conclusion to the project, renowned photographer Lieve Blancquaert is creating a poignant exhibition featuring portraits of the participants alongside archival photographs of the deportees. It will be open to the public starting in the fall of 2026. We deliberately chose Lieve Blancquaert for her unique gift of capturing human emotions and socially relevant stories in an intimate and respectful way.
The exhibition juxtaposes historical portraits of deportees with contemporary portraits of participants. The link between them varies: sometimes they share the same age or birthday, sometimes they bear the same name, and sometimes there is no concrete similarity, but a profound connection. It is this connection that the exhibition will bring to life visually.
A name gives a person a face, a story, a place in the world. To reduce people to numbers is to dehumanize them. That is precisely where every tragedy, such as the Holocaust, begins. As long as we allow people to be reduced to figures or labels, that danger persists. That is why every name matters. Then and now.
Lieve Blancquaert
