Jim Britt, Sisters, 1976
Dear Shaded Viewers,
This fall, Antwerp’s MoMu is set to turn the spotlight on a subject everyone thinks they know—but few have truly seen. Mark your calendars: GIRLS is an exhibition with attitude, shaking up old ideas and celebrating the beauty, rebellion, and truth of girlhood.
We all remember our own version of ‘the girl’. Maybe she’s the piano player in a frilly dress, the daydreamer gazing out of a classroom window, or the tomboy with scraped knees. Art history tucked her away—innocent, silent, and always someone’s daughter. She smiled from gilded frames and magazine covers, demure and mysterious, but just out of reach. Until now.
GIRLS smashes open those antique frames and lets girlhood speak for itself, loud and clear. Through the eyes of contemporary artists, fashion designers, photographers, and filmmakers, this exhibition digs deep into what it means to live, dream, and grow as a girl now, then, and always. Forget sentimental clichés: here, girlhood is bold, complicated, political—and bursting with life.
More than a celebration, GIRLS is a rallying cry. Around the world, too many girls still face discrimination, poverty, and violence before their journeys even begin. This exhibition is for them, too, insisting that how we see teenagers today will shape their future. In the halls of MoMu, art, fashion, and storytelling become tools of resistance and imagination—making girls visible, giving their stories a stage.
Expect an explosive mix: boundary-breaking photography, dreamy costume design, and fashion that dares to ask, Whose girlhood gets to be seen? With LGBTQIA+ perspectives front and center, and teenagers actively involved in the creative process, GIRLS promises inclusion and freshness from every angle.
GIRLS isn’t just an exhibition—it’s an invitation to remember your past, imagine new possibilities, and see ‘the girl’ in every new light. This fall at MoMu, girlhood is no longer in the background. She’s the main event—and she’s unforgettable.
With work by: Louise Bourgeois, Veronique Branquinho, Jim Britt, Sofia Coppola, Edgar Degas, Chopova Lowena, Jenny Fax, Robert Gober, Lauren Greenfield, Iris Häussler, Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Nancy Honey, Roni Horn, Fumiko Imano, Jas Knight, Sofia Lai, Eimear Lynch, Martin Margiela, Alice Neel, Meret Oppenheim, Frida Orupabo, Simone Rocha, Nancy Steiner, Leticia Valverdes, Jenny Watson, Arisa Yoshioka, Leonardo Van Dijl, Micaiah Carter, Harley Weir, Nigel Shafran, Léon Spilliaert, Juergen Teller, Meryll Rogge, D’heygere, Ashley Williams and many more.
Exhibition under the lead of
Curator: Elisa De Wyngaert
Guest curator film: Claire Marie Healy
Exhibition design: Janina Pedan
Graphic design: Paul Boudens
Campagne image: Jim Britt, Sisters, 1976
