WHO ARE WE
THE GORDON SQUARE SOCIETY
°2024, Antwerp, Belgium
Grown out of a shared passion of the founders for the life, work and thoughts of Virginia Woolf
and the members of The Bloomsbury Group.
A non-profit organisation that promotes the philosophy of Virginia Woolf and The Bloomsbury Group in today’s cultural society
THE FOUNDERS
Three of the five founders in Vanessa Bell's studio in Charleston Farmhouse: Isabel Miquel Arques - Yasmine Geukens - Marie-Paule De Vil
Isabel Miquel Arqués:
°1963, Lleida, Spain
Artist. Storyteller. Works with photography, serigraphy, and writing.
Searches beauty and poetry in art and everyday life.
Passionate about books.
Fascinated by the art of painting, filmmaking making, and ballet.
Isabel loves a good laugh, bread, fruit, and coffee; silence, the early morning sun, the sound of sea and rain. For the last sound,
she lives in the right country.
Marie-Paule De Vil:
°1962, Lier, Belgium
Art historian; Co-owner of Geukens & De Vil Gallery; curator at Geukens & De Vil Projects
Marie-Paule is in search for beauty and authenticity always and everywhere. In art, in nature, in everyday life.
She is a silent observer. She loves traveling, good food, cooking, a good book, wanderlust and yoga.
She discovered Woolf thanks to A Portait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson which was given her by her father at the early
age of 16 and has been visiting Sissinghurst and the Bloomsbury homes and gardens ever since.
She is a creative dreamer. Connected to the universe.
Yasmine Geukens:
°1964, Turnhout, Belgium
Art historian; Co-owner of Geukens & De Vil Gallery; curator at Geukens & De Vil Projects
Loves art and books. Beautifully dressed tables with good food and luxurious old fashioned hotels.
Enjoys studying Shakespeare and is a huge Cate Blanchett fan.
Yasmine delights in engaging in constructive discussions and thrives on intellectual challenges.
She is a well-organized administrator.
A dedicated Woolfian since her late twenties.
Ben Majchrowicz:
°1960, Genk, Belgium
Doctor of Science with a senior executive career around the world in profit & non-profit international organisations.
The Sustainable Development Goals and the Human Rights of the United Nations serve as his personal compass.
Ben loves books & music & art, is passionate about the work & life of Virginia Woolf & Bloomsbury.
He is a bibliophile. Driven by wanderlust.
Ben discovered Virginia Woolf & Bloomsbury during a walk with his best friends in the footsteps of Virginia Woolf on the Sussex Downs.
There he also bought his first (and not last) rare book, a first edition of the Hogarth Press, founded by Virginia & Leonard Woolf.
He is inspired by love & beauty and guided by knowledge.
Eric Rinckhout:
°1956, Antwerp, Belgium
MA in Dutch and English Language & Literature at Free University Brussels (VUB)
Eric worked for 25 years as an arts journalist at the daily newspaper De Morgen. Art critic, writer and curator. Has written extensively about visual arts and literature, a.o. ‘The South of France for Art Lovers’ and ‘Magritte Unveiled. A biography in 50 pictures’.
He loves books, music, film and art - from the old masters to contemporary artists.
Is driven by curiosity, enjoys walking & travelling and is always searching for beauty. Was thrilled when visiting Monk’s House and Charleston, two shrines of irreverent and liberating beauty in East Sussex, the dwellings of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant respectively.
Self-portrait of Eric Rinckhout in the mirror of Vanessa Bell's studio in Charleston Farmhouse
Ben Majchrowicz