Jean-Michel Othoniel’s first major solo exhibition in Brussels, Diary of Happiness, was on view at the Villa Empain of the Boghossian Foundation. Embodying the mission of the foundation to foster dialogue between different cultures through art, the exhibition brought together more than one hundred works inspired by the experiences and memories of some thirty years of travel across the world.

The Villa Empain, where the exhibition was held, is regarded as an Art Deco masterpiece designed by architect Michel Polak in the 1930s. Acquired and restored by the foundation in 2006, the villa established itself as a center to bridge Eastern and Western cultures. For the exhibition, Othoniel installed works throughout the villa, including its salons and bedrooms, as well as across the garden, creating a harmony between historic architecture and contemporary art.

The exhibition embodied Othoniel’s distinctive “geography of thought.” Each work is associated with a particular country the artist had visited, giving form to the diverse encounters and exchanges of a journey extending beyond Europe—Armenia, Belgium, and France—to Türkiye and India, China and Japan, and the United States and Mexico. In particular, alongside monumental sculptures and installations, the exhibition presented approximately one hundred watercolors and works on paper that had rarely been shown before. Evoking a travel notebook, these works formed a record of years spent abroad, offering an intimate experience akin to opening the pages of a diary. On the presented works, the artist remarked as follows: “The works presented are part of my pursuit of happiness and bear witness to the long journey that has led me from shadow into light.”

Within a space where historic architecture and memories of travel intersect, Diary of Happiness led visitors on a journey exploring the happiness of which the artist speaks.