Yet the first encounter happened in very different circumstances, as Marie-Paule explains.

“About 11 years ago, more or less by chance, I read an announcement: ‘Museum seeks volunteers for events’. I thought it might be something for me. I’d never visited M before, but I had time on my hands – I was between jobs – and I lived on Bondgenotenlaan, just a ten-minute walk away. And I’ve always been fascinated by art. After my husband died, in 2007, I began visiting museums more and more often: the big institutions in Paris, MoMA in New York...”

“I could host conferences and dinners at M, which I enjoyed. Since then, I spend half a day a week at the audio desk in the main hall: I welcome visitors, show them the cloakroom, hand out plans, explain how the audio guide works... And if I feel people are receptive, I have a chat.”

“Recently, at Leen Voet’s exhibition, I encountered a group of about ten young girls. ‘Would you like an audio guide?’, I asked, but I noticed they kept their distance. As if they were thinking: what on earth does that older woman want from us? I managed to convince them to take one anyway, and a few hours later they were back at the desk with huge smiles on their faces: ‘Thank you so much !’ And when you have moments like that, you think, I’m going to carry on doing this for a very long time.”