Lola Pertsowsky
18.09.2026
08.11.2026
In the Mother Tongue
Which plants, animals and objects do we share our homes with? And how do we coexist with them? In her series ‘In the Mother Tongue’, Lola Pertsowsky invites us to see domestic life and the everyday through fresh eyes.
The pictures in this series were taken at her mother’s house. It’s teeming with life. A fly perched on the leftovers from breakfast. The dishes waiting to be washed. A half-eaten slab of butter. A smartphone. A colony of ants. They all coexist under the same roof.
The objects we design for our convenience end up shaping us in turn. Pertsowsky's camera circles her subjects. Her goal is not to document but to create a bond with whatever she is photographing.
Pertsowsky gives equal attention to the plants, animals and objects we often overlook. She looks, then looks again. Looking becomes an exercise in itself, repetition a way of learning to see.
About the artist
Lola Pertsowsky (1988, Île d'Oléron, France) lives and works in Brussels. She studied at La Cambre and LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. Her work explores the relationships between the human and the non-human in domestic and public spheres through photography and sculpture.
FOMU Grant
This exhibition is part of the FOMU Grant programme. The grant consists of three components: a commission to create new work, an exhibition at FOMU and the acquisition of work for the museum collection. Through the FOMU Grant, we support photographers based in Flanders. FOMU and an external partner take turns nominating artists. This time FOMU nominated Pertsowsky. The FOMU Grant is made possible in part thanks to the support of the FOMU Patrons.