Passers-by walking along the canal in Vilvoorde can now admire a monumental mural on one of the walls of the Archives Conseil buildings. Entitled Along the Canal, this creation by French artist Nadège Dauvergne stands at the crossroads of contemporary art and local heritage.
A unique artistic technique
For several years, Nadège Dauvergne has been developing a distinctive process that has become her signature: drawing through successive coloured hatching. From a distance, the eye perceives a vibrant and unified image with intense colours. But upon closer inspection, each detail reveals a mosaic of delicate lines in which shades break down and recombine, unveiling the chromatic richness of the whole.
Both rigorous and poetic, this technique invites the viewer to adopt a dual perspective: global and immersive, yet also attentive and contemplative.
A dialogue between past and present
To conceive Along the Canal, Nadège Dauvergne drew inspiration from the local historical and artistic context.
The mural establishes a direct link with the work of Belgian painter Jean-Baptiste Van Moer (1819–1884), renowned for his depictions of the Brussels canal and neighbourhoods that disappeared after the covering of the Senne.
The chosen reference is his painting Warehouse near the Saint-Michel Mill, which portrays the canal at the junction of Haren and Vilvoorde. Preserved at the Museum of the City of Brussels, this heritage artwork finds renewed resonance through Nadège Dauvergne’s contemporary interpretation.
In this way, the mural acts as a bridge between memory and modernity, reintroducing a historical vision of the canal into the present.
A collective and symbolic project
The creation of this mural was far from accidental. It is part of a large-scale cultural project, carried out in partnership with the City of Vilvoorde and the association Border Buda, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Buda Bridge.
The inauguration took place on 2 July 2025, in the presence of:
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Philippe Close, Mayor of the City of Brussels,
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Katrien Vaes, Alderman for Culture of the City of Vilvoorde,
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and of course the artist Nadège Dauvergne herself.
This celebratory moment highlighted the importance of the canal as a space of memory, encounter and artistic creation.
By welcoming this artwork on its walls, Archives Conseil affirms its commitment to opening its buildings to the city and contributing to local cultural life. As a specialist in archiving and document preservation, the company also plays a role in the preservation of collective memory, whether administrative, artistic or heritage-related.