Interieur van de machinehal tijdens de wereldtentoonstelling te Antwerpen 1894

Th. Lantin captured this photograph of the machine hall at the Antwerp World Exposition. The exposition was held in 1894, a period of technological optimism, but also one marked by significant social inequality. The interior of the hall throbs with the pulse of industrial progress. Machinery, the pride of nations, lines the vast space, each piece a testament to human ingenuity. But what about the humans behind these machines? This exposition celebrated progress, but at what cost? It occurred in a time of nascent labor movements and widespread concerns about workers' rights and safety. The working class was often rendered invisible, their contributions celebrated only as anonymized labor within the spectacle of industrial achievement. The photograph reminds us of the complex layers of progress, and the importance of remembering the hands, often unacknowledged, that powered it. How do we celebrate achievement while addressing the inequities of its making?