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Bread & Roses is cheating
For the virtual expo Bread & Roses is cheating we invited friendly heritage institutions to share special pieces from their own collections that, in their opinion, resonate with the meaning of the legendary slogan behind the magazine's name:We want bread and we want roses too'.
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, that powerful slogan has symbolized social justice worldwide. Bread refers to the right to fair wages and economic security. Roses represent everything that makes life more than mere survival: culture, nature, education, beauty, freedom, and equality. Together, they express a desire for a dignified and just existence. An aspiration that is just as relevant today as it was then.
Bread & Roses is cheating brings together a multifaceted selection of objects, images, documents, and stories thanks to the enthusiastic cooperation of numerous heritage institutions.
The AMVB – the archive and museum for Flemish life in Brussels – presents The Chin-beater.
If you have to knocking, then you can count on not getting anything (anymore) for the time being. Artist Marc Cram, alias Marc Delarue, worked his entire life at the OCMW and knew how disappointed benefit recipients often left the social services buildings. He designed for them the Chin-beaterHe placed the surrealist instrument at the exit of the service, so that disgruntled individuals could immediately and publicly express their displeasure. This turned the object into a social protest. Playful and confrontational at the same time.
A glance at the images provided by the ADVN makes it immediately clear why exactly these two were chosen. Both express a powerful desire for a livable and peaceful world. Disarmament, no more war, care for the climate: these are messages that resonate with burning relevance once again today.
Ghent Archives sent us some identification marks used by foundlings. Such identification marks were left with the child by the person who abandoned it. If the mother wanted to retrieve her child later, she could use this object to prove that it was her child.
Read more: Ghent Archives - Identification marks of foundlings
The program War diary of the VKAJ Heist-aan-Zee offers a surprisingly vivid picture of the daily life of a girls' youth movement during the German occupation in the Second World War. The diary demonstrates how essential fun and relaxation were, even in wartime, and was forwarded to us by Archiefpunt as part of the project War diaries.
Read more: Archive point - War diary of the VKAJ Heist-aan-zee
AVG Carhif – the archive and research center for women's history – sent us Lost Bread: Your Household, Your Life? (1977), the first issue of the LeF cahiers. LeF stood for Left and Feminist, a collective that made a significant contribution to the feminist debate in Flanders in the 1970s. The publication examines the household as a place of invisible labor, inequality, and societal structures. From various perspectives and with attention to personal experiences, the cahier exposes the foundations of a broader feminist analysis of labor, care, and emancipation.
Read more: AVG-Carhif - Lost bread: your household, your life?
CAG – the Centre for Agricultural History – displays a banner from the farmers' demonstration of March 23, 1971, in Brussels. Belgian farmers took to the streets en masse at the time out of concern for their livelihoods in response to European reform plans.
CAVA – the Centre for Academic and Liberal Archives – provided us with a series of striking images of resistance, each bearing witness in its own way to commitment and social involvement. From poignant photographs of demonstrations to a moving and accusatory cartoon by GAL.
On October 15, 1961, a striking demonstration marched through La Louvière, organized by the Socialist Youth Guard (SJW). The action brought together a diverse group of left-wing and pacifist voices opposing the growing militarization in the climate of the Cold War. Central to the movement was the plea for conscientious objection and universal pacifism, symbolized by the 'broken rifle'. This photograph from the CegeSoma archive captures a moment when a new, more militant form of pacifism began to manifest itself.
Read more: CegeSoma - Demonstration of the Socialist Youth Guard against militarization in 1961
Design Museum Gent presents two striking examples in which social engagement and design are closely intertwined.
The shop interior of the Brussels cooperative enterprise L'Art Décoratif Céline Dangotte, designed by Albert Van Huffel, and the architecture of the Brussels People's House by Victor Horta, both stem from a distinct social ideal. In both projects, design and aesthetics reflect the progressive ambitions of the underlying philosophy, and design is deliberately deployed as a vehicle for social and cultural renewal.
The FelixArchief highlights a selection of historical flags of Antwerp professional associations made by the embroidery studio Oyen-Soyez.
They not only display refined craftsmanship but also reflect the rich social life of their time.
We all pee – men and women alike – several times a day. In the Huis van Alijn collection, you will find many traces of this: from chamber pots, bedpans, and toilet paper to a Fisher-Price toilet trainer. We also sometimes need to go to the toilet when we are away from home, but that experience differs for men and women.
The urination funnel is a prime example of this. It is an ingenious device that can help women in need of urination. At the same time, it is also a 'disobedient object' that stands for the right to equality between men and women. Men can often use public urinals for free, whereas there are far fewer (free) options for women.
The Industrial Museum preserves various examples of hopeful signs from the workplace in its collection. The selected objects demonstrate humanity, friendship, inclusivity, and pride in work.
Read more: Industry Museum - Warm stories from the workplace
From KADOC, the Documentation and Research Centre for Religion, Culture and Society, we received the poster 'Young unemployed comrades, sign our petition of the Catholic Workers' Youth from 1935.
A clear illustration of how the Christian labor movement also engaged in the fight against youth unemployment.
Read more: KADOC - The KAJ's fight against youth unemployment
KOERS – the Museum of Cycling – tells the story of the Peace Race, once known as the 'Tour de France of the Eastern Bloc', through a number of special objects and images.
What began as a symbolic peace initiative after the Second World War grew into a cycling race with a turbulent history, closely intertwined with the European political context.
The Letterhuis shows us the playful murals that artist Frederik Garrels (1919-2001) designed in 1961 for Home Kindervreugd in Sint-Idesbald. This holiday colony was managed by Kindervreugd, an organization founded in 1937 out of a strong social concern to offer Antwerp schoolchildren a wide range of recreation, play, and education. The association wanted to provide young people with a meaningful and responsible way to spend their free time. By bringing them into contact with nature and culture, stimulating a sense of community, and offering accessible leisure activities — from sports and music to dance and theater — the non-profit contributed to equal opportunities. From 1947 onwards, the holiday program also grew into a core activity, allowing thousands of children and young people to experience unforgettable holidays.
Liberas presents a VLD election poster for the parliamentary elections of May 18, 2003, featuring two men prominently alongside the slogan 'In this country you can be yourself again'. Earlier that year, the purple-green Verhofstadt I government had indeed enshrined same-sex marriage in Belgian law, becoming the second country in the world to do so.
By opening up marriage to same-sex couples, the government consciously opted for a policy that legally enshrined equality and respect for the LGBTI+ community. The poster thus reflects a broader project of social inclusion.
For the project 'Stiel – We are the makersIn 2023, Linx+ set out to meet leisure makers who shape their world with their hands and their minds. No big names. Ordinary people with a strong drive to create. Linx+ wanted to know what that making does to them. Does it make them prouder, stronger, happier? Their stories show that making is more than a pastime. It is a way to take a place in society.
For Bread & Roses is cheating Linx+ selected work by student Bien, who with yarnbombing engages in connective activism.
Read more: Linx+ - Bien, yarnbombing and the right to take up space
COMPASSION. The many faces of compassion was on display at the MAS in Antwerp in 2025. The exhibition brought together art and objects from different times and cultures around this universal theme.
Compassion is the ability to see not only the other's shortcomings, but also the human being behind them: ensuring that no one suffers from hunger, but also that no one is reduced to their need. For true solidarity not only nourishes the body but also gives space to dignity.
A historic photograph from the collection of the MoMuse – the municipal museum of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek – shows how citizens of the municipality resisted the far right during turbulent times. The image draws parallels with contemporary social tensions.
Read more: MoMuse - Historical resistance against the far right
For the Charleroi Photo Museum, it was a deliberate and meaningful choice to present the work of Roger Anthoine during the selection of the photographs. His images of the arrival of Italian workers in Charleroi align seamlessly with the themes also found in Bread & Roses at the center are: human dignity, solidarity, and labor.
Read more: Musée de la Photographie Charleroi - The arrival of Italian workers
The Red Star Line Museum tells the story of Ahmed Oubari, who immigrated from Morocco to Belgium and was interviewed in 2022 for the exhibition. Escape stories.
In this interview, he looks back on the crucial moment when he received his first Belgian work permit. What is seemingly an administrative formality marks, for him, the start of his real life in Belgium. A symbol of recognition, dignity, and new opportunities.
That the Ypres City Archives chose these photos needs little explanation. The demand for an eight-hour workday was a cry for help for more humanity, more free time, and more of life. The core message of Labour Day, in other words.
The photos show the celebration of May 1st in 1945 in the center of Ypres, a moment when that message was particularly pressing.
The Mechelen City Archives provided us with two remarkable pieces that paint a vivid picture of anarchism in the city on the Dyle at the end of the 19th century.
A combative pamphlet and a photograph from the Mechelen furniture industry together show how political conviction and the reality of work were closely intertwined.
Ghent has long been known as a contrarian, rebellious city. Social protest and civic engagement are, as it were, in the city's DNA.
The STAM provided us with several pieces that bear witness to the determination of the people of Ghent to make and keep their city accessible to everyone.
Old night reports, patient records, and diaries from the healthcare sector do more than document the past. They move, surprise, and provoke conversation. This care heritage sparks the imagination and reminds us that caring for one another is inherent in our humanity.
TOON, the national service provider for care heritage, therefore encourages heritage organizations to embrace their societal role. At a time when healthcare is under pressure, culture and heritage can help create space to discuss vulnerability, resilience, and mental well-being today. Drawing on its own operations, TOON brought together images—found or created in collaboration with others—that align thematically and emotionally with the theme Bread & Roses.
The contribution from the collection of the Flemish Architecture Institute clearly shows that the trade unions' struggle went beyond demanding better wages and working conditions. They also strived for decent and affordable housing for workers. The Eenheidswijk in Wilrijk, an initiative of the tenants' cooperative Eenheid, founded by the Algemene Centrale Antwerpen, fits within that ambition. The project primarily aimed to realize functional and high-quality homes for working-class families.
At the same time, the trade union movement had an eye for aesthetics in the way it presented itself to the outside world. For instance, in 1930, the General Federation of Trade Unions called upon the renowned architect Eduard Van Steenbergen for its stand at the World Exhibition.
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