Just My Luck

In the spring of 2025, the Institut pour la photographie will once again take over the Théâtre du Nord’s communal spaces with Just My Luck , a project conceived by Belgian artists Cécile Hupin and Katherine Longly that revolves around games of drawing, scratching, and chance.

Hybrid and unconventional, this multimedia exhibition—based on archival documents and born out of a series of encounters—contrasts dreams with reality by immersing us in a series of testimonies from winners, losers, and those around them, whether close to them or connected to gambling. 
The stories featured throughout the exhibition explore the fine line between luck and misfortune, and reveal a great deal about our society, our aspirations, our beliefs, and our relationship with money…

People have always dreamed of that little miracle that could change their lives. The invention of lottery games turned pure fantasy into something within reach. All it would take, then, is a little luck to see all our dreams come true…

But what exactly is luck? And isn't the concept of luck inextricably linked to that of bad luck, as if believing in one meant risking the other?

It is said that nearly two thousand years ago, the young Roman emperor Heliogabalus was already enjoying himself this way. He organized a lottery that promised players some very attractive prizes: land, ministerial posts, or slaves. And others that were decidedly less appealing: animal carcasses, venomous snakes… or a death sentence!

Even if lottery games are no longer organized in such a cruel way, one might still wonder what still drives two out of three adults to play them regularly, even though we know that “ money doesn't buy happiness ».

↘︎ Acknowledgments and mentions : In connection with the exhibition, and to mark the occasion of Fiesta , the 7th edition of lille3000—a participatory project led by Cécile Hupin and Katherine Longly in various bars and PMU betting shops throughout the Lille metropolitan area—will feature on-site events in the fall of 2025