Mémoire Universelle by Benoit Bethume world premiere took place last night at Hunting and Collecting concept store in Brussels.
In connection with the premiere of Mémoire Universelle there was an fashion installation in collaboration with: Anthony Vaccarello, Céline De Schepper, Jean-Paul Lespagnard, Own, Tim van Steenbergen, Veronique Leroy, Didier Vervaeren, Cedric Charlier, Stephanie Croibien, Mademoiselle Jean, Olivia Hainaut, Christian Wijnants, Sandrina Fasoli, Jan Jan van Essche, JEANPAULKNOTT, Louise Leconte.
Since he was a child, Benoît Bethume has collected and stored thousands of images in his head. Depictions of the beautiful, the scarce, the incongruous, of the posing woman and the staggering man, the silent child, the photographer, the bow in the hair, the vague gaze, of time, day, night, trouble: these images are sorted and classified in a manner that is exclusively his own.
A renowned stylist and curatorial associate for titles that include I-D, Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle and L’Express Style, he also functions as an advisor to brands that include Carven, Véronique Leroy, Paule Ka, Petit Bateau. With unrivalled clarity of vision, he is an image consultant, an emotional interpreter, a visual narrator. And a photographer. And Belgian – from Namur. And the designer of this issue of Mémoire Universelle (M.U), the first of a series of nine, called Oh, l’Amour!
Spread over 300 pages, structured into four main chapters, and featuring four different cover designs, this extended edition of Mémoire Universelle documents the trail of the heart, bound and illustrated. Not a magazine, but perhaps a bookzine, – a vast work that leaves room for reflection, image creation, interviews, and stories. All with a certain lightness, due in part to the gravity of the subject: love, with all its facets and obsessive tendencies. These pages document the fashion, art, cinema, and music that bring Benoît Bethume’s images to life: his words, characters, and locations set firmly in stone.”
http://www.huntingandcollecting.com
