“Algerian Heritage Through Belgian Eyes” exhibition, Tribute to Edouard Verschaffelt
ALGIERS — An exhibition featuring about forty reproductions of works by Edouard Verschaffelt, a Belgian orientalist painter who settled in Boussaâda from 1919 until his death in 1955, was inaugurated Monday in Algiers under the title, “Algerian cultural heritage through Belgian eyes.”
Running until April 17 at the People’s National Assembly (lower house of Parliament), this retrospective on the prolific work of Edouard Verschaffelt was opened by lower house Speaker Brahim Boughali, Minister of Culture and Arts Zouhir Ballalou, Belgian Ambassador Jean Jacques Quairiat, Bousaâda Delegate Governor Riad Benahmed, the Belgian artist’s daughter Samia Madeleine Verschaffelt and Exhibition Commissioner Amel Mihoub who was in charge of its presentation.
The exhibition pays tribute to the painter Edouard Verschaffelt (1874-1955), who “developed a deep attachment to Algeria, particularly to Boussaâda province.”
It has been previously displayed in Bousaâda and in Algiers in 2022. The exhibition makes its return to the Capital, jointly organized by the lower house and the Belgian Embassy on the occasion of heritage month (April 18-May 18).
In the presence of several representatives from different diplomatic missions accredited to Algiers, museum directors, deputies, as well as students from the National Higher School of Fine Arts in Algiers, Boughali reiterated “Algeria’s firm will to promote its diverse cultural heritage and the need to raise awareness about its enhancement and preservation, in order to uphold the culture, history and identity of the Algerian society.”
