Ma Bellegique

PREFACE BY PHILIPPE GROMBEER | 2013 Lucas Racasse, an explorer of Belgium? If nothing else, a live wire with a quick draw — in short, a real splash! — grabbing our gaze and often our smile. He’s deeply enamored with this non-country, so rich in imagination and imagery. And that’s perfect! Lucas dives in headfirst — boldly and with cheeky detours — into the clichés and symbols that make up a territory we hold dear. With him, everything crumbles — and he doesn’t fit any mold… Too easy! Racasse goes far beyond overused winks and nods. He brings a point of view, a “here and now” kind of sensitivity. Recommended by our shared “godfather,” Jo Dekmine, he arrived in the spring of 2002 to create the visuals for our very first season at the Théâtre des Doms (Avignon), for the 56th Festival d’Avignon. A tram stops in front of the Doms villa, a red curtain serves as a door, opening onto a stone staircase, with the caption “Let yourself be transported!” And voilà — the first poster “transported” through Avignon and well beyond… As Jo Dekmine wrote so precisely, the obsession with logos is long gone. Everything is signature (1). And what a signature! One that leaves its mark. Because Lucas lives his time intensely and gives us his signs. Powerful, colorful, sometimes bloody, often funny and poetic. A bad boy and a softie all at once! Have you seen the sensuality of his mural Le Bain Bénit, where gods and goddesses finally mingle with desire? Or the raw force of Inferno, the boxing ring of history’s worst criminals? Or the poetry of that sailboat-liner floating among Magritte-like clouds, celebrating ten years of the Théâtre des Doms’ journey? These are just a few of the moments where this sign-pirate catches us off guard, makes us look, sparks commentary… For ten years, we’ve exchanged thoughts about our “Belgitudes”, our way of being different from our French partners — and how to express that. A “country” was scanned through striking images created for each edition of the Festival in Avignon at the Doms: from the Atomium as an ice cream cone to a comic-book-style cyclops once…, from chili peppers shouting “Go see the Belgians!” to a tricolored heart with ninety percent passion, from cabbage-grenades to live-insect pralines and butterfly-mussels flying free… In short, this “serial illustrator” helps us — even just a little — to define our identity! It’s not always a smooth ride with this blunt speaker, this bon à tirer of provocative drafts, but he brings a visual joy that makes sense. That helps us better grasp our world. There he is, the iconoclast — after all these years of ads, illustrations, collages, posters, gadgets, murals — now bearing a body of work! Let’s discover his passion for his Belle Gique. Philippe Grombeer (1954–2020) Director of Théâtre des Doms / Avignon (2002–2011) Director of Les Halles de Schaerbeek / Brussels (1974–2002) Founder of the European cultural network TransEuropeHalles (1983) (1) From a text by Jo Dekmine in the book Théâtre des Doms, 2001>2011: le voyage d’une décennie. Editions P.A.C., 2012