Thirty-Six Views of Notre Dame  

Opening on June 20, 2025, at Atelje Ismet Mujezinović, Tuzla, Thirty-Six Views of Notre Dame is an exhibition of photographs by Tomas van Houtryve that tells the story of one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks in a personal and historical way. We invite you to join us at 2000 CEST to view the exhibition as part of the Festival Žene Festival.

Curated by The VII Foundation, the show presents the work of photographer Tomas van Houtryve. For more than a decade, van Houtryve photographed the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris, initially as a part of everyday city life and subsequently as a witness to its near-destruction and subsequent rebirth after the blaze in April 2019. The show weaves together the story of the fire, documenting the building’s original, damaged, and rebuilt state.

From a garret window overlooking the cathedral to the tip of a crane above the reconstruction site, van Houtryve’s lens captured key moments of the rebuilding. He worked with both modern tools, including drone cameras, and historic techniques, including a 19th-century wooden camera, revealing the Paris icon in a visual language both old and new.

Notre Dame is not merely a church. For over 800 years, it has been the epicenter of French life, accommodating coronations, revolutions, wars, and tens of millions of tourists from around the world. It has been ravaged, looted, rebuilt, and redefined time and again. This exhibition offers the chance to stand and consider what places like Notre Dame are to us, how they connect generations, and why it’s worth saving them, not just the stone and glass but also the stories that we continue to tell.

Thirty-Six Views of Notre Dame is a reflection on the human desire to build with care and intention for future generations. In these images, van Houtryve invites us to not only look at a building but also to examine the manner in which history is present and active through the spaces that we choose to save.

The exhibition is organized by The VII Foundation in collaboration with the French Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina and supported by UNESCO through the “Culture and Creativity for the Western Balkans” (CC4WBs) project, funded by the European Union. The project aims to foster dialogue in the Western Balkans by enhancing the cultural and creative sectors for increased socio-economic impact.

The production of the exhibition is supported by Innova Art, a UK-based manufacturer of specialized inkjet media established in 2003.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Location:
Atelje Ismet Mujezinović
Klosterska bb
Tuzla Grad 75101
Bosnia & Herzegovina

Opening Date:
Friday, June 20, 2025

Press Contact:
[email protected]