Reinventing Photography
A commission from the National Center for Plastic Arts and a call for projects from the Hangar.
Presented in Brussels from September 18 to December 20, 2026, the exhibition Reinventing Photography is at the heart of the celebrations for the bicentenary of photography.
The exhibition brings together twenty projects from a double support system for contemporary creation. Fifteen of them were selected as part of the French national photographic commission "Réinventer la photographie", launched in September 2024 by the Ministry of Culture and supported by the National Center for Plastic Arts, in the perspective of this Bicentenary. Thought as an invitation to rethink the medium in the light of its two centuries of existence, this national commission encourages the development of new works and unpublished photographic intentions.
In addition to these projects, there are five works by Belgian laureates, chosen following a call initiated by Hangar, enriching the whole with local roots and complementary perspectives.
At a time when the tools of image creation are experiencing an unprecedented expansion—especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence—photography is facing new opportunities as much as profound questions. Faced with the rise of artificial images, sometimes perceived as an additional step in the history of the medium, artists offer critical, sensitive and experimental positions.
Echoing the major public commissions that have marked the history of photography, the works produced in this context are intended to be integrated into national collections and to circulate in France as well as internationally throughout the bicentenary celebrations. The exhibition at the Hangar is thus part of a network of events that, around the world, pay tribute to two centuries of images while opening up perspectives on their future.
Reinventing Photography thus offers a space for reflection and confrontation, where heritage and innovation, memory and projection dialogue. Through these twenty projects, she shows a photograph in the midst of redefinition, crossed by its own mutations, and invites us to think about what its future could be beyond this bicentenary.
