Between Lessines and Vercelli, Elena Franco researches and photographs the memory of the old hospitals. The artist has recently published a book that brings together in an original and poetic way a large part of his work.
HOSPITALIA will take the reader into a well-buried European history. Here photographs give a voice to the architectural and social history of the old reception and health care centers, built from the Middle Ages in the main European centers. Sometimes abandoned, they were often assigned to new uses in the 20th century. The Old Hotel-Dieu of Lessines is one of the best examples: founded in the middle of the 13th century to house a religious community and about thirty poor, it now houses an outstanding museum dedicated to the history of the health and medicine whose wealthy and coherent artistic, scientific and architectural heritage are worth seeing. Elena Franco’s work is a tribute to this shared history throughout Europe and demonstrates how profoundly human it is.
Outdoor exhibition at Notre-Dame Hospital Rose, from September 8 to November 25, 2018 Visitor guide available