What would old photographs look like if you could just add a little colour? That’s the question that Pol Cosmo, the street artist from Ghent wanted to answer. Are there splashes of colour beneath the layers of grey, or did the world really look that pale and ashy?
Curious about the mysteries that the beguine communities held, Pol Cosmo set out to play around with a glass plate photograph by Louis J.M. Philippen, a photographer who documented the daily lives of beguines. Would there be tales of passion and secret liaisons within the walls of beguine communities? With his rainbow colouring, the artists makes a suggestion. The pious beguine communities were perhaps a safe haven, a subtle and quiet predecessor to the LGBTQIA+ movement.
You can’t just sit and do bobbin lace all day, can you?
Source reference: Louis J.M. Philippen, 1872-1946, Begijnhoven varia: Kantklossende begijnen, Universiteitsbibliotheek Antwerpen, Public domain.
