TALKING HEADS. Portraits with a Story (1626–2026).
Sun 31 May ’26 to Mon 2 Nov ’26, from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Kasteel d'Ursel Wolfgang d'Urselstraat 9, 2880 Hingene, Belgium

Dozens of centuries-old portraits of the d’Ursel family are displayed alongside works by contemporary artists. From stately dukes to dreamy children, from modest servants to distinguished relatives, from melancholic figures to colorful characters: each portrait bears the traces of the era in which it was created, as well as of the person portrayed. Face to face, you will discover the remarkable story behind every visage.

The exhibition opens with the oldest (1626) and the newest (2026) family portraits. Spread across the castle’s three floors, you will then discover portraits of the d’Ursel family from the four centuries in between. Several portraits once thought lost, but only recently rediscovered, will also be shown to the public for the first time.

TALKING HEADS combines and contrasts these centuries-old family portraits by Justus van Egmont, Charles-Pierre Verhulst, Philip de László, Joseph Vivien, Alexandre Delatour, Charles Le Clercq, Bernhard Seibert, Alexandre Thomas, Antonine de Mun, many lesser-known and several anonymous masters, with works by more than fifty contemporary artists:

Mona Ardeleanu (DE), Omar Ba (SN), Stephan Balkenhol (DE), Raafat Ballan (SY), Lysandre Begijn (NL), Vilson Biçaku (AL), Michaël Borremans (BE), Julie Cockburn (UK), Daan Couzijn (NL), Stefaan De Croock (BE), Mattias De Leeuw (BE), Iris Devriendt (BE), Alioune Diagne (SN), Hans-Peter Feldmann (DE), Maen Florin (BE), Jeanno Gaussi (AF), Aurélie Gravas (FR), Kati Heck (DE), Volker Hermes (DE), Maarten Inghels (BE), Oda Jaune (BG), Gideon Kiefer (BE), Eveline Kieskamp (NL), Milan Kunc (CZ), Thomas Lerooy (BE), Enrique Marty (ES), Ryan Mosley (UK), Marion Moskowitz (FR), David Moy (US), Rémi Noël (FR), Julian Opie (UK), Victoria Palacios (FR), Steven Peters Caraballo (BE), François Roca (FR), Matthieu Ronsse (BE), Ben Sledsens (BE), Eddy Stevens (BE), Mieke Teirlinck (BE), Mickalene Thomas (US), Jesse Tomballe (BE), Hans van der Ham (NL), Levi van Veluw (NL), Floris Van Look (BE), Yves Velter (BE), Tinus Vermeersch (BE), Shirley Villavicencio Pizango (PE), Robin Wen (BE), Preta Wolzak (NL), Ulrike Martha Zimmermann (DE), Dirk Zoete (BE), and Allison Zuckerman (US).

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