Until November 9 in Brussels, Surrounded by Criminals, an exhibition by Nicolas Wieërs, presents the little-known world of the Vory v Zakone, the “thieves in the law” of the former Soviet Union.
Surrounded by Criminals originated in Moldova, where Belgian photographer and videographer Nicolas Wieërs, also founder of the Balkan Trafik festival, immersed himself for several years in the world of this former criminal fraternity. In Chișinău and Tiraspol, he established a relationship of trust with these men, gaining exceptional access to an hermetic community. Their tattoos, signs of belonging and hierarchy, appear as living archives, bearing the memory of a clandestine world doomed to disappear.
The tour features nearly 140 black and white prints, accompanied by captions that reveal the history and symbols worn by these men.
The exhibition reveals the journeys and stories of these marginalized men in six unusual Brussels locations, forming a tour: the AGORA room at the Bourse; the NATHALIE AUZEPY L’impératrice studio; the tattoo parlors MUE Tattoo Shop and Inksane Tattoo & Piercing; Le Poste, a third-place located in the former barracks on Place du Jeu de Balle; and the Brussels Tattoo Convention at Tour & Taxis.
Each exhibition space highlights a different dimension of the project. The AGORA room at the Bourse houses the majority of the collection. At the NATHALIE AUZEPY L’impératrice studio, Nicolas Wieërs and Nathalie Auzépy each explore, through their photographs, the body as a space of empathy and memory, revealing fragility, dignity, and humanity. Their works engage in a dialogue around human sensitivity, contrasting the constrained beauty of Nathalie’s Parisian bodies with the scarred and tattooed faces of the excluded photographed by Nicolas, both seeking to reveal the intimate truth of their subjects. The documentary and social aspects of the project will be highlighted at Le Poste, and tattooing as a graphic language will find its place in the MUE Tattoo Shop and Inksane Tattoo & Piercing salons, whose artistic approach extends the reading of the images. Finally, the closing of the exhibition will take place at the Brussels Tattoo Convention in Tour & Taxis, where a selection of around thirty portraits will be presented from November 7 to 9.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Nicolas Wieërs : Surrounded by Criminals
October 9 – November 9, 2025
1000 Brussels
Bourse (salle agora)
Boulevard Anspach 80
Le Poste
Place du Jeu de Balle 62
Nathalie Auzepy L’impératrice studio
Rue des Fabriques 12
MUE Tattoo Shop
Rue du Marché aux Porcs 26
Inksane Tattoo & Piercing
Rue du Congrès 33
Brussels Tattoo Convention
07 > 09.11
Tour & Taxis, Rue Picard 3
