Digital heirlooms
"Brouwerij Gistel"
The project Brewery Gistel started as a property memoir project. Somebody who knew me through my Urbex explorations and my fascination with abandoned locations gave my contact to a friend whose family was in the process of selling their estate somewhere North, near the coast, in the country side of West Vlaanderen. As Emiel Spriet (the youngest son of then six children) told me when we first met "We are selling our mother's house". Georgette Marie De Leye, 95 years old, was too old to tend to the large dominion on her won. It had been already a few months that she entered the elderly home in Gistel, all the while the children were looking for the right buyer for their property. In fact Georgette's house was not a common "onroerend erfgoed", as it was (and still is) part of the common heritage of Belgium. Already indicated on the original land registry map of 1835, the "Brouwerij Dewaele" remained active through the Second World War, only to be closed in 1960. At the time located in Westkerke, Georgette and her husband Maurice Spriet purchased the property in the December 1968 from Dewaele's grand daughter Marie Louise Dewaele. Georgette and Maurice had recently lost their farm to the industrialisation the region was undergoing following the economic boom of the post war. That property was their new project. The new home for their big family.
Forward to the year 2024...and so the story goes, that in front of the high renovation and maintenance costs, House Spriet-De Leye, previously known as Brouwerij Dewaele, a property safeguarding within its walls memories of entrepreneurship and business, of love and laughter, of hardships and growth, of loss and achievements...was finally - or shall I say again - looking for a new owner.
But little I knew, I was starting a journey into the life of a woman I would come to love with deep affection and admiration. A woman from another generation, a generation that saw the Great Wars, WWI and WWII, becoming way too familiar with violence, hunger, insecurity and poverty. A generation that knew true hard work, sacrifice and humility. This woman touched my heart from the very moment I met her. Her simplicity and the kindness I saw in her eyes, told me stories of loss and fatigue, but also reminded me of all I most value in a person. The capacity to transform trauma and difficulties into dedication, discipline, personal integrity, and gentle wisdom.
I knew Georgette cultivated through her decades the wisdom of what truly matters. The Family. The Home. Safety.
Above left: Georgette's pensive look captured on the video during our first interview.
video credit: Aubane Filée
Above right: Emiel is posing for me during my first visit to the estate. He is never without his loyal companion Irma.
Left and here below: the dining room located at the front of the house. The ceiling was decorated by a delicate fresco-like painting depicting tree Cupids, the god of love, passion and desire.
In the summer of 2024 I was granted access to the house right before the sale act was signed. I roamed with my camera and tripod around the house, enchanted by the beauty of its rooms: the furnitures from the years 50ies till 70ies were lying on wooden floors or tiles dating back to the mid-to-late 1800 overcasted by ceilings that once upon a time must have been impeccable and extremely curated in their frescos. Each area of the house had a very specific colour palette, as if each room was to inspire a specific feeling to those lingering in its spaces. Objects of a random origin and precious furniture ranging from rococo to art deco, hinted to the reality of the families that inhabited it before Georgette and her belated husband could purchase it in the 50ies.
The more I captured those rooms with my lens, the more I became connected to Georgette and her family.
How was Georgette feeling about this major change, about the selling of her life's work and effort? How were her children and grandchildren going to keep this part of their family history alive in their memory. I felt honoured to be commissioned with such task. I realised that the pictures alone would be too silent, too immobile to deliver all the stories that were hidden behind every detail that captured my eye. I decided to ask Emiel, her youngest son and my direct contact with the project, to ask Georgette whether she would agreee to be interviewed by me. Georgette agreed. What follows are the memories, thoughts and feelings shared during two hours of intimate recount between a curious Italian photographer and Georgette De Leye, the daughter, the wife, the mother and grandmother. With this digital heirloom I wish to repay her trust and that of her children in sharing with me their family story.
Above and to the left: in a reddish and warm colour palette is the master bedroom where Georgette and her belated husband used to sleep. The ever present cross as sign of respect towards the Church that was so present in those times.
Something about the work at the farm and brewery once she too it upon herself