Willy Baeyens is a Flemish artist living in Koksijde (Belgium) near the Northsea in Europe. Like so many other passionate artists he doesn’t restrain from sending a message into the world who are sometimes delicate or difficult to digest.
He is like no other interested in humanity in all its aspects, the things that bring joy and color to life and also the facts that cast a giant black shadow on human history. The purpose of art is to express emotions, but art can also be a conscience that can appear in short bursts of messages that are crystal clear, brought gently and respectful, but nevertheless persistent.
To approach the facts of war is never delicate. Willy Baeyens magnifies what we all know about the second world war in our history books. Especially in those parts of Europe, the memories of both world wars are still fresh and assimilated into the history and the collective recollection of the inhabitants. He creates an atmosphere without resulting to heroics nor bravery but in a way that people are reminded that the darkest pages in history happened and could happen again.
His art installation of abandoned luggage may seem strange at first, even chaotic and raise some eyebrows, but the suitcases are not nearly left luggage, they stand for panic, distress, chaos, suffering and in this case death.
The deportations in the occupied territories from the Third Reich is a tragedy felt throughout Europe. The choice of using 100 pieces of luggage is highly symbolic, it is a picture that keeps wandering around in the eyes of the beholders, even more so than a bunch of names on a commemorative plate or a statue, those reminders seem to lose their weight throughout the years, the luggage is engraved into the memories of the spectators.
Within the 100 suitcases, there is in each of them a magnificent oil painted portraits of Jewish children who not only left their suitcases but also their lives. The eyes full of innocence and despair stare at you, the desperation that rapidly is felt by the people who watch this art installation. A gloomy music in the background rubs the horror in more. This is a silent protest against war and the senselessness of violence, it is a formal charge against all dark powers from yesterday, today and tomorrow who want to end civilization as we know it. Next, to the suitcases, there are also panels with pictures of Jewish children who probably never survived the death camps. Only a small percentage could testify to what happened to them all.
The artist Willy Baeyens scores with his ‘Left Luggage’ it is not only a dark reminder of the past but is also actual in a time where religious fanatics try to eradicate the world into another nightmare and preach a second Shoah.
Left Luggage is art with a big ‘A’. The picture keeps haunting the memories of the spectators, hopefully, the message will stick as well.
All Photo Credits: Frederic De Meyer-