That’s what Ostend represents for the people portrayed in the exhibition Aller/Retour, staged in odd locations around the town. It’s a collection of largescale photographs by Stefaan Vanfleteren with commentaries by Michael De Cock of Theater ’t Arsenaal in Mechelen, also co-curator of Ostend’s recent Theater aan Zee (TAZ). Aller/ Retour launched as part of TAZ but fortunately lasts several weeks longer.

First, the locations. This exhibition has no home, which is entirely fitting considering its subject. The people in the photos have had to leave their own homes and are heading for a new home that does not want them. The British language may be steeped in the influence of the sea – but that doesn’t mean they’re open to foreigners, whether from Africa or Eastern Europe.

For their material, De Cock and Vanfleteren travelled to places like Senegal and Slovakia, the points at which the odyssey of a migrant begins; to Malta and Ostend, major crossing points; into Europe and the UK, to see where they end up; and especially to London, the El Dorado, to record those faces we usually only see in the papers when a flood hits or a war ravages.

See all of them – which takes a bit of determination, with the whole city as venue – and the theme of heroism emerges. Mankind, from the Polynesians to the Vikings, has always set out upon the sea to seek out “new life and new civilisations”. These migrants, so often despised and rejected, ask no more than that. Vanfleteren’s skill as a portraitist is well known; in this series, we’re also reminded that he used to be a news photographer.

The book Aller/Retour, with text by Michael De Cock and photos by Stefaan Vanfleteren, is published by Meulenhoff/ Manteau at €29.95

Aller/Retour
Until 30 September
Across Ostend
www.theateraanzee.be