Single mothers facing poverty in Wallonia and Brussels
Cordons is an exhibition project, structured as a photo-reportage, that gives voice to the many single mothers struggling with the hardships of solo parenthood in French-speaking Belgium. We met them in their homes, in shelters, and through collective initiatives that offer them support.
The project explores what single parenthood and precarity mean today — their forms, causes, and consequences. We sought to understand how and why women, in particular, find themselves at the forefront of economic and social insecurity.
The title Cordons (“Cords”) was chosen for its symbolic richness and the connections it evokes.
The umbilical cord, linked to the placenta, plays a vital role in nourishing and communicating between the mother and the fetus — it symbolizes above all the intimate bond between a mother and her child.
The French expression tenir les cordons de la bourse (“to hold the purse strings”) refers to managing money and financial control — evoking some of the challenges women face throughout their lives.
These are essential roles that single mothers living in precarious conditions must juggle daily, often under extremely difficult circumstances.
Photography: Christophe Smets
Texts : Camille Wernaers
