In a first research for the ‘Khaos’-exposition (paintings above) Antoine Vander Auwera observed the fraught vacuousness of the neglected city Aleppo. He went through this work process in search of the incredible strength of the human will to survive a mutilated environment which is only a memory of a past life. He tried to understand the conditions of life and the amazing courage of the people living among the rubble of war madness, looking out for a hopeful future. The works gently embraced the unbearable lightness of this uncertain trauma.

Vander Auwera started his first research work in December 2021. The world seems to have forgotten Aleppo. Other atrocities heralded a new era.