Pic(k) of the week 38: THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

September 19, 2017

Pic(k) of the week 38: THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL - C-mine LABYRINTH

Earlier in the month, I visited C-mine, an industrial museum and creative hub housed in an old (closed) coal mine in the northeastern part of Belgium. In the early 1900's the city of Genk (not the same as the city of Ghent) had only a few thousand citizens. But when coal was discovered just before World War I, three mining sites where opened, giving a huge increase in population numbers (65000). While the mines made for a huge boom of the local economy, eventually they were closed down; 1986 was the last year coal was brought up to the surface at C-mine, then called the mine of Winterslag.

Today, the old industrial site which is open for visitors, attracts a lot of photographers. There must have been more than a dozen wedding photographers shooting images the Saturday I was there. One of the more interesting rooms, is the compressor hall; a large room full of compressors that provided air the miners up to 900 meter underground.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, an outside 1km long steel labyrinth was designed by the art and design duo, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh on C-mine square. "Labyrint" is not a classic high wall labyrinth, but a structure that provides new viewpoints to the site in a very creative way. The 190 ton maze consists of a combination of cylinders, half and full circles, providing some see through parts as can be seen in the image below!