The smile, it disarms, connects and is universal.

It exists in various forms: from very soft, with small corners of the mouth to exuberant, with all teeth visible to a mysterious smile, ... .

We smile consciously or unconsciously, at someone, for something or just out of ourselves: because we think of something nice. Although the smile is often dismissed as sympathetic or seen as something only related to fun, the smile is more complex and important than we realize. More than that, the smile is vital!

Our smile has been part of us since birth; there are countless moments where the baby smiles from a reflex. However unconscious it may be, it is soon used more consciously as a mechanism to develop a bond with the adults. The baby uses the smile to be loved and cared for in order to increase his chances of survival. Thus, the first social interaction begins through a smile and its response, the smiling response.

Therefore, the smile and laughter has for years been the entrance to connect with the other person or to discuss difficult situations. This is also the case with artworks in this expo. They disarm us with a smile.

This exhibition is fully committed to works that surprise you and try to elicit a smile. They move into the streets and squares of the city of Roeselare, some blend into the streetscape and are almost invisible as a soft smile and other works will have an exuberant presence in the streetscape, still others engage in a shrewd dialogue with the history of the place.

I had the pleasure of inviting a selection of young and well-known artists, both homegrown and internationally recognized.

I hope this exhibition will make you smile as you walk the streets of Roeselare

​

 

​