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Here we provide the press information and images for the exhibition Hotel Bellevue for download. The image material is released free of charge exclusively for editorial contributions in connection with the presentation at KUNST HAUS WIEN. Please use the complete picture and copyright credits in the first instance. The images provided may not be cropped, overprinted or otherwise altered without prior permission.

Hotel Bellevue

Dries Segers

12.03.-27.03.22

  • Press Conference: FRI 11.03.22, 10:00


    Press release

    Since 2019, Belgian photographer Dries Segers has been making special trees the subject of his art. Boundary trees are planted in certain places to mark a border and to indicate it from a distance. Centuries ago, border trees were a kind of signpost for people, they showed the direction to a castle, a farm or a church and were marked on maps. The function and symbolism of these trees was lost over time. Currently there are 52 known border trees in Belgium, the artist's home country.

    Dries Segers comments: "I was inspired by border trees for my artistic work because the word itself contains a conflict. How can a tree be more than just a tree itself? When I started to look into this, the symbiotic worlds involved became clear. Apart from being an intelligent and important part of our ecosystem, trees provide orientation and serve as inspiration".

    Another special feature that Segers came across is the nail tree. Since the Middle Ages, nail trees have been revered as a link between the earth and the gods: through its roots and its crown. It was believed that a piece of textile cut into the tree could absorb the pain of the person who touched that piece of textile and heal them.

    The nail trees are mostly oaks, because they have hard, durable wood and can live for over 1,000 years. There is also such a nail tree in Vienna, the so-called Stock- im-Eisen stands on the square of the same name in the First District. The place was also important for KUNST HAUS WIEN founder Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The visionary artist presented his worksthere in a walking gallery in the 1960s. What Hundertwasser and Seger have in common is the unification of art and ecology. Under the theme Rethinking Nature, Dries Segers won the Open Call of FOTO WIEN 2022.

    In Hotel Bellevue, Segers combines various photographic means and techniques to create an overall installation. The booklet accompanying the exhibition Hotel Bellevue was published in 2021 and contains diverse stories about these trees.


    Dries Segers (°1990) grew up in the north of Belgium, in the forests near the Dutch border. Segers works with the history of photography by using specific techniques and settings. The results are plant-based prints, photographs without a camera and extreme close-ups.


    DOWNLOAD Press Release Hotel Bellvue


    OPENING: FRI 11.03.2022, 18:00-21:00

    Press images

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