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Gilbert & George in front of the entrance of the bookshop and gallery Gewad
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All the administration for ordering books was done with a typewriter and index cards. There were as yet no computers or fax machines.
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1984: Hilde and Johan with J.P.Sartre's book 'L'idiot de la famille' (The Family Idiot), a parody of a photograph by artist Jan Vercruysse who worked in the bookshop.
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Artist and friend Johan Boutelegier in the bookshop (now teachter at St. Lucas, Ghent)
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Johan in 1985
Johan back in 1985
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Hilde in 1985
Hilde back in 1985
The first bookshop shared a building with an art institution an a ballet school.
The 'Gewad, Centre for Contemporary Art',as it soon came to be known, was founded in 1981 by (among others) Jan Debbaut (then curator of the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven), collector Anton Herbert and gallery owner Joost De Clercq.
Even at that early time, the art centre mounted exhibitions of the work of Sol LeWitt, Rebecca Horn, Daniel Buren, Lawrence Weiner, Juan Muñoz, Cindy Sherman, Thierry De Cordier, Gilbert & George and others.
The years at the Gewad were an interesting apprenticeship. They brought me into contact with numerous artists and because the shop was never very busy, I had the time to read about contemporary art and architecture. My boyfriend Johan Boeykens helped me whenever he could.
In the bookshop we sometimes organized small exhibitions with young artists like Patrick Van Caeckenbergh and at regular intervals we would send out little magazines containing book reviews and information about new titles.
In those pre-digital days these were still produced by photocopying, cutting and pasting.