Europe

Moon Landing 50th Anniversary

Exhibition “Man in Space” at the Embassy of Belgium

July 18th, 2019
Valeriya Kharchenko, News from Berlin
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On the occasion of the moon landing’s 50th anniversary, the Embassy of Belgium in Berlin organizes the exhibition “Man in Space” by a Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck from 18/07/2019 to 20/07/2019.

On July 20, 1969, the astronauts of Apollo-11 completed a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth. 380.000 km away from his hometown, Neil Armstrong set his left foot on the lunar surface, thus, becoming the first man to walk on the Moon. About twenty minutes later, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin followed him. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours, 36 minutes in the Sea of Tranquility, while Michael Collins stayed in orbit around the Moon. Their safe return to Earth made the three men the heroes of the modern era. Armstrong’s famous quote “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” still inspires debates and raises interest.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, the Embassy of Belgium in Berlin organizes the exhibition “Man in Space” by Paul Van Hoeydonck - a versatile Belgian artist. Currently based in Antwerp, Belgium, he works as a painter, draftsman, collage and relief artist, sculptor and graphic artist. He is the first artist to design an object for the Moon. The artist is currently based in Antwerp. In more than 65 years of his career, Van Hoeydonck organised numerous art exhibitions, shows, and presentations.

The artist graduated in History of Art and Archaeology in Antwerp, Belgium. There he organised his first exhibition in 1952. In the following years he lived and worked in Belgium and the USA. In 1968, the artist had a first contact with NASA. His fascination for the universe reached its peak in 1971 when he was commissioned to create a work of art for the Apollo 15's next lunar mission. In 1970, the artwork “Fallen Astronaut” was installed by two American Apollo 15 astronauts David Randolph Scott and James Benson Irwin at the landing site on the moon at the Hadley–Apennine. The “Fallen Astronaut” involves a statuette of a spaceman (about 8.5 cm tall), and an aluminium plate with the names of eight US and six Soviet astronauts, who died during space training flights before 1971. His sculpture “Fallen Astronaut” is still the only artwork on the moon.

Everyone is welcome to discover Van Hoeydonck's unique artworks on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of July, between 14:00 and 18:00, at the Belgian Embassy, ​​Jägerstr. 52-53, 10117 Berlin.

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News from Berlin