Opening: Stephan Vanfleteren. Transcripts of a Sea.

19.09.25 – 19:00 – 23:00

Astrid De Bruycker (President of AGB Arts and Heritage Ghent) and Manfred Sellink (Director of the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent) have the pleasure of inviting you on Friday 19 September 2025 at 7pm for the opening of the exhibition Stephan Vanfleteren. Transcripts of a Sea.

With the exhibition Stephan Vanfleteren. Transcripts of a Sea, the internationally renowned photographer shares for the first time the enchantment that, in recent years, has driven him to – or rather into – the sea. Vanfleteren’s fascinating images take us on a journey through time.

His photographs are inspiring invitations to consider developments in maritime painting in a new light, and to discover how his perspectives intersect with those of painters from the 17th to the 21st centuries.

Vanfleteren analyzes the sea with a dangerous obsession and fluid longing, exploring it in all its forms and lighting conditions. He searches for places where waves and swells appear as unpredictable wonders.

Stormy, mirror-like, misty, thunderous, deceptively calm water or a runaway washing machine: the photographer doesn’t observe it from the shore but opts for a wet confrontation by literally entering the sea.