The 23rd Heritage Days at the ULg

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Words in architecture at the University of Liège

Place du 20-Août, Saturday 10^th September, 2011, from 10.00 until 18.00

Whether it provides them with education and training, inherits their archives or makes use of their talents, the University of Liège is a privileged site of welcome for architects or writers. Its multiple relationships with writing and the construction arts are illustrated on the occasion of its opening up the main classified parts of its ‘central building', 7, place du 20-Août, on Saturday September 10.

Guided Visits

The guided visits will in particular seek to recall the history of university buildings and to present two remarkable rooms: the Academic Hall (of exceptional heritage value) and the Marie Delcourt room (one of the precious reserves of the Library, very rarely open to the public), as well as the Wittert gallery.

Guided visits given by Art&fact ULg art historians will take place at 10.00, 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00 and 16.00. Starting from the entrance hall, in front of the Academic Hall.

Attention: for security reasons, the Marie Delcourt manuscript room is not available on open visit. It will only be accessible for guided visits, for groups of 20 at a time.

Exhibitions and events

Besides the traditional guided visits, various activities and events will be offered by the University Theatre, Hololab and the Geomatics Research Unit (a virtual 3D visit to the city of Liège in 1730), the Centre for Literary Papyrology Documentation (ancient papyrus restoration sessions), etc. Several exhibitions are in addition on the programme, on a variety of themes: the architectural history of the library, masterpieces of the art collections, a presentation of major writers and architects connected to the University, from Saint-Beuve to Umberto Eco, passing through Simenon, Marcel Thiry, Alexis Curvers, Robert Vivier, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Vaclav Havel, Tolkien, Salman Rushdie, Hubert Nyssen, Paul Auster, Claude Strebelle, Santiago Calatrava, etc.).

The ULg's writers

The main exhibition will present, on illustrated panels and with the aid of original documents (photos, literary works, research publications, etc.) the major artists and architects linked to the University, from Sainte-Beuve to Umberto Eco, passing through Simenon, Marcel Thiry, Alexis Curvers, Robert Vivier, Léopold Sédar Senghor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Salman Rushdie, Hubert Nyssen, Paul Auster, Claude Strebelle, Santiago Calatrava, etc.).

See the dossier, Écrivains de l'ULg published on the Culture site.

History of the Library

Also on the programme is a retrospective of the history of the University of Liège's library building, situated on the site of 20-août since its creation in the 19^th century. Beyond documents showing the library in the 19^th century the exhibition will present, with the help of plans, blueprints, etc, the project for the major central library envisaged throughout the 1930s and abandoned following the Second World War. The exhibition is located in the entrance hall of the library on the ground floor of building A3, with combined access to the Marie Delcourt room.

Tolkein was awarded a Honorary Doctorate by the ULg in 1954. He made frequent visits to the university, notably to work with Simone D'Ardenne on his research work and a book (Liflade ant te Passiun of Seinte Iuliene). The Library has retained several documents (photos, research articles, an annotated copy of The Hobbit, correspondence, etc.) which speak to his contacts with the ULg.

Ancient papyrus restoration workshop

The CEDOPAL (Centre for Literary Papyrology Documentation) will not only exhibit the finest pieces from its collection of Greek papyrus and its papyrology photographic archives, but will also present a demonstration of papyrus restoration techniques using several Greek (Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine periods) and demotic specimens belonging to a private Liège collection: unfolding of the papyrus, dust removal, support dampening, drying, pressing and placing under glass and labelling, with the taking of macrophotographs at every stage and logging all the operations in a laboratory notebook, before moving onto a description of the layout and attempts to decipher the texts.

The Paintings of the ULg's art collections

The Wittert gallery will offer access to a selection of old paintings from the University of Liège's art collections (15^th - 20^th centuries). Rich in around 60,000 works of every kind, the University of Liège's art collections has a very good sample of paintings dating from the 15^th to the 20^th centuries. From religious iconography to abstract work, passing from portraiture to landscapes, the different pictoral genres are illustrated by artists who have been recognised (such as Auguste Donnay, James Ensor, Auguste Mambour and Jo Delahaut) or have remained anonymous.

The city of Liège in 1730...in 3D!

The University of Liège's art collections contain an exceptional work by Gustave Ruhl-Hauzer, La cité de Liège vers 1730 (The City of Liège around 1730), a model constructed between 1900 and 1910. It is currently exhibited in the Marie Delcourt room. Within the framework an ambitious interdisciplinary collaboration initiated by the Geomatics (Topography-Geometrology) Unit and involving the Hololab laboratory, the Library Network and the Art Collections Department, this magnificent document has been scanned in 3D. Exceptionally, on the occasion of the 2011 Heritage Days, you will be able to discover the first results of the first results of this digitising project which opens up the path to a multitude of fascinating uses: through the means of a short animated sequence you will visit in 3D the Liège centre as it was in 1730, as imagined by Gustave Ruhl-Hauzer. You will stroll around and stop in front of the most interesting sites. It also needs to be stressed that the departure point of your virtual walk will be the University's current Academic Hall, also scanned in 3D. The technical, scientific and cultural related to this vast project will be presented in the form of posters arranged within the projection room, side by side with the old model.