Charif benhelima biography of martin
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History
In 2022, Be-Part Waregem experienced a transitional year. Its distinctive building on Westerlaan was sold bygd the owner (and later demolished), forcing Be-Part to relocate to a new permanent exhibition space. This became ‘de Schakelbox’, centrally located in the city, where both exhibitions and workshops now take place. In the meantime, concrete plans emerged to explore public spaces in Waregem. This led to the concept of the Pirate Pavilion (by Nico Dockx, Voet Architectuur, and Studio Zuidervaart), which found a home in Baron Casier Park in September 2023. This pavilion perfectly embodies the concept (and name) ‘Be Part (of it)’, inviting people to actively participate in a dynamic, ever-evolving artwork.
Looking Ahead
In spring 2025, Abby Kortrijk, a new museum for visual arts, will open, with Be-Part as Kortrijk’s partner. In 2026, Be-Part will present its first exhibition there featuring works by Tom Callemin. The outstanding facilities, scope, and broad support for
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Galerie Michael Janssen presents Charif Benhelima – Harlem on my Mind on view until March 5, 2011.
Galerie Michael Janssen is pleased to present for the first time Belgian photographer Charif Benhelima with the exhibition Harlem on my Mind: I was, I am.
Long before Harlem became one of the trendiest neighborhoods in the real estate market of Manhattan, it was a metaphor for African American culture at its richest. Benhelima’s passion for Jazz as well as his desire to experience African American culture at its source prompted him to move to Harlem, where he lived and worked from 1999 to 2003, undertaking the difficult task of photographing a place that was only known to him through legend and through its music. The title of the project is a reference to the controversial exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in 1969. The black and white and red photographic series consists of forty-eight images of splattered walls, shadowy figures, dirty streets and battered buildings. Benhel
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Charif Benhelima, “Garbage” (2005) from ‘Black-Out’ (2005–15) (all images courtesy the artist unless otherwise noted)
CURITIBA, Brazil — Despite Polaroid having officially discontinued its product in 2008, it has resisted extinction. In 2012, the company started selling new instant film, which, while not as good in quality, has allowed it to live on. Created in 1937, Polaroid developed as an art struktur in the 1970s thanks to the work of artists like David Hockney, Andy Warhol, and Mary Ellen Mark. Part of the appeal, for artists and non-artists alike, has been the film’s unpredictable and imperfect qualities. Charif Benhelima, a contemporary Belgian artist whose Polaroids are now on view at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Curitiba, takes advantage of the camera’s unsophisticated technology to produce photographs that look more like drawings or watercolors.
There are four series on display, ranging from images of daily objects and plants to street scenes in Harlem, New York