BRUGES.- Exactly 100 years after the German invasion of Bruges, the city is commemorating the Great War with three exhibitions. This global conflict is being shown both within its Bruges context as well as its international framework, from both historical and artistic perspectives.

On the ground floor Sophie De Schaepdrijver presents a historical exhibition on the little-known story of an occupied city made to serve as a base for the war at sea. The exhibition offers us a fascinating glimpse into life in occupied Bruges against the backdrop of global war.

On the first floor, there are two photography exhibitions: MAGNUM photographer Carl De Keyzer offers a contemporary approach to historical First World War photography. In collaboration with David Van Reybrouck, he selected historical photographic materials from international collections. He processed the images and made large, impressive prints.

Carl De Keyzer presents in a second exhibition his own work alongside that of nine fellow MAGNUM photographers. All of them live in a country where the First World War played a major role. They reflect - in their own ways and from the perspectives of their very different backgrounds - on the topic.

The writer David Van Reybrouck reflects on the death of the young, both then and now. After five months of field work in the Westhoek, he has compiled ‘Lamento’, a series of texts about the suicide of young people in West Flanders today. It forms a moving partiture to the war photographs on the upper floor.