City Jewel: When Art Creates a Space for Recognition at the Gare Maritime
At Tour & Taxis, some projects go beyond mere events. They open up a space for dialogue, recognition, and collective reflection. City Jewel is a striking example of this. Hosted at the Gare Maritime, this art exhibition with a social impact has transformed the venue into a space for listening and resilience, accessible to everyone.
More than just an exhibition, City Jewel demonstrates that the Gare Maritime can also host meaningful projects, where art becomes a vehicle for change and human connection.
A project driven by collective commitment
City Jewel was part of a broader initiative led notably by SOS Children’s Villages Belgium and vzw Espero Ter Wende, with the support of numerous experts and on-the-ground actors. Together, they worked to build a more trauma-sensitive society, capable of recognizing childhood wounds and responding to them appropriately.
The exhibition echoed an open letter published in 2021 calling for the creation of a space of recognition for people who have experienced childhood trauma. City Jewel was one of the major outcomes of this initiative.
A collective work, between pain and hope
City Jewel brought together a series of symbolic beads, each telling the story of a child, teenager, or adult who had experienced repeated trauma during childhood. Each bead embodied not only pain, but also resilience, inner strength, and possible paths to healing.
Conceived by artist Laura Nsengiyumva, the work invited viewers to see childhood trauma not as an isolated experience, but as a societal issue deserving of recognition, a listening ear, and collective action. Through art, the unspeakable found a form, a language, a space.
A free exhibition, open to all
Presented free of charge at the Gare Maritime, City Jewel allowed a wide audience to discover this socially engaged artwork. The exhibition welcomed 2,119 visitors, an average of 71 people per day, demonstrating the project’s appeal and resonance with both the Brussels and international public.
This accessibility was at the heart of the initiative: to create an open space for recognition, free of barriers, where everyone could feel involved, moved, and valued.
A project driven by collective commitment
City Jewel was part of a broader initiative led notably by SOS Children’s Villages Belgium and vzw Espero Ter Wende, with the support of numerous experts and practitioners in the field. Together, they worked to build a more trauma-sensitive society, capable of recognizing childhood wounds and responding to them appropriately.
The exhibition echoed an open letter published in 2021 calling for the creation of a space of recognition for people who have experienced childhood trauma. City Jewel was one of the major outcomes of this initiative.
The Gare Maritime as an Amplifier of Sensitive Narratives
Hosting City Jewel at the Gare Maritime was no small matter. Through its spaciousness, lighting, and architecture, the venue provided a setting that allowed sensitive narratives to exist on a grand scale without distorting them.
The Gare Maritime has thus become a venue that brings these stories to the forefront, capable of addressing important societal issues while respecting their depth. It has demonstrated the diversity of formats possible at Tour & Taxis: from spectacular events to socially engaged exhibitions, always with the same attention to the visitor experience.
A meaningful venue for socially engaged cultural projects
City Jewel demonstrates that the Gare Maritime is also a venue for those who wish to organize exhibitions with social impact, cultural projects that promote values and collective reflection.
What if your project could also find its place at the Gare Maritime?
A venue where art, commitment, and space come together to create experiences that matter.
Endless possibilities. Unforgettable moments.