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Brussels shines the spotlight on contemporary art

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Brussels has become a hub of contemporary art. Few cities in world can boast of such a huge art scene as Brussels, be it in any form. The capital is fertile place for creativity and discovery. International artists are charmed by its many beautiful spaces dedicated to art. Collectors from all over the world, for their part, regularly visit the capital to find that one piece that makes all the difference. Several players help enrich the art scene: the WIELS, BOZAR, MIMA, the Centrale for Contemporary Art, the CAB Foundation, the Villa Empain, and let’s not forget the future Kanal Foundation either. Between museums and art centres, galleries and artists’ collectives, fairs and other events, Brussels is sharing its passion for art.

Salon Beurs Show at Art Brussels

Every year, Brussels celebrates contemporary art from April to May. From the unmissable Art Brussels fair to the Private Choices exhibition, not to mention the Affordable Art Fair, events will be showcasing contemporary art with both domestic and international artists taking centre stage. Here is a quick look at the fairs, exhibitions and unmissable events of the next few months.

Fairs

Art Brussels

Art Brussels

Art Brussels is celebrating its 50th birthday: This year’s fair is full of innovations. Since its creation, Art Brussels has developed into one of the biggest contemporary art fairs in Europe. The fair is an unmissable date on the international artistic calendar. No less than 147 galleries featuring art from 32 countries. Art Brussels has never been so international, although the number of Belgian galleries has also increased.

Dates: From 19 to 22 April 2018

Venue: Tour et Taxis

Poppositions

POPPOSITIONS 2017 Exhibition view ©Renato Ghiazza

Recognising the crucial role of contemporary art fairs within a globalised market, Poppositions aims to revitalise the ways that pieces are hung and presented, always experimenting and discovering ground-breaking ways of selling. It is more than a fair, it is an exhibition involving a continuous critical dialogue, whilst guarding against stand-based layout. The title of this year’s fair, In Watermelon Sugar, was borrowed from that of the post- apocalyptic novel of the same name by Richard Brautigan, published in 1968.

Dates: From 19 to 22 April 2018

Venue: Former Coppens Studio

ACAF

Since 2006, the special feature of this fair is that the artists themselves do the exhibiting. ‘Accessible Art Fair (ACAF) brings original art, with a mix of photography, design and sculpture, to a public that has been buying art since 2006.

Date: 19 April to 22 August 2018

Venue: Nonciature du Sablon

Blast from the past: Contemporary Art- Brussels’ cultural heartbeat in April

Themed exhibitions

The Brutal Play

The CAB Foundation presents The Brutal Play, a collective exhibition curated by Matthieu Poirier, who is gathering sculptures by ten artists, from the constructivist period through the minimalism of the sixties, to the present day.

Dates: Until 26 May 2018

Venue: CAB Foundation

Unexchangeable

It is often said that there is nowhere else that has as significant a proportion of art collectors as Belgium. It is striking, however, that with such potential, so few partnerships are formed between public museums and private collections. By means of a selection of historic and museum-quality works from the 80s and 90s, on loan from private collections in Belgium, the exhibition focuses on the value of a work of art. This exhibition tells the story of a pivotal time in the history of art, during which artists changed the paradigm of the uniqueness of a work of art through concepts such as the simulacrum, simulation and equivalence.

Date: 19 April to 12 August 2018

Venue: Wiels

Private Choices

The Private Choices exhibition lifts the veil over an important sector of the art field: collections of contemporary art and the art lovers who initiated them. More than ever before they play a major role in a constantly growing art world. This project showcases 11 Brussels collections gathering together works by Belgian and international artists, famous artists, and young creators, in an attempt to reveal the uniqueness of each of them. Through the choices made in collaboration with the collectors, what is revealed is a part of their vision of art and of life.

Dates: Up to 27 May 2018

Venue: CENTRALE for contemporary art

Melancholia

The Boghossian foundation presents its new exhibition entitled Melancholia at the Villa Empain. It addresses the origins and manifestations of melancholia. Existing in East and West since antiquity, it continually sends human beings to their lost origins, filling them with regret for a world that has passed.

Dates: 15 April to 19 August 2018

Venue: Villa Empain

Promesses d’un visage [Promises of a face]

©TravelMagazine

The Promesses d’un visage exhibition takes you back through more than six centuries of portraiture, through paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs from the collections of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, as well as guest pieces. An object representing power or challenge, an instrument for social recognition or the expression of the subject’s rebellion, the portrait is a genre which has undergone a number of metamorphoses over time, right up to the habit of the selfie. Bouts, Memling, Rubens, Van Dyck, Gauguin, Ensor, Chagall, Delvaux, Bacon, Tuymans, Borremans, Fabre, Vanfleteren…

Dates: 23 April to 15 July 2018

Venue: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Voici des fleurs [Here are some flowers]

This exhibition pays homage to the work of Akarova (1904-1999), a renowned interwar era Brussels woman who devoted her life to music, dance, choreography, painting and sculpture. La loge is inviting contemporary artists to exhibit their own works side by side with Akarova’s works, and to make their own connection between her ideas and the dynamics of production.

Dates: 19 April to 30 June 2018

Venue: La loge

Events

Opening of the Kanal Foundation

The Kanal Foundation will be opening its doors on 5 May for a year before the refurbishment work begins. This future museum of contemporary art and architecture will be housed in the former Citroën garage a stone’s throw from the Senne. Throughout the year, this cross-disciplinary exhibition will be offering screenings, concerts, performances and exhibitions of works taken mainly from the Pompidou Centre collections. It is a chance to see pieces never before seen in Belgium in this raw space before it is closed for refurbishment work. The coming exhibitions will also present pieces by Brussels artists created especially for the occasion.

Date: Starting from the 5 May 2018

Venue: Fondation Kanal

So if you love contemporary art, you have many reasons to plan a trip to Brussels in coming months.

Have you witnessed the Art scene in Brussels? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

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Nightclubbing: Spring parties you should not miss in Brussels

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Every year, Brussels lights up on fine days. Clubbers and fans of electronic music are not left out. New concepts emerge and iconic venues in the capital offer attractive line-ups for aficionados of the dance floor. C12, Surrender and the not-to-be-missed Listen festival invite night clubbers to get out on the dance floor. The queen of diversity with its 183 nationalities, Brussels also prides itself on offering a wide range of late night party venues. From tech house to dance, not forgetting hip hop, all musical styles can be found here. Many head for a night out in the capital to see the latest DJ or have a crazy time in one of a string of lively late night venues.

At this time of year, new night-time events organised by the well-known names of Brussels nightlife erupt in the capital to the great delight of night owls. As well as the birthday of Fuse, which, as happens every year, offers a programme worthy of its international renown, the Listen festival has unveiled an impressive line-up. Among the DJs present, great names like Mount Kimbie and Floating Point from Britain, or John Talabot from Spain will be presiding over the decks in the iconic venues of the capital, including the magnificent Art Nouveau gallery designed by the architect Victor Horta and Flagey.

This season’s list of venues and events for partygoers is very long. Here is a glimpse of what’s in store:

Tourisme Bar Halles Saint Géry Sint Gorikshallen © Jean-Pol Lejeune

The events

Libertine Under My Garage Last edition:

Libertine Under My Garage is the very recent merging of 2 Brussels groups, Libertine Supersport and Under My Garage, which share the same vision of clubbing and the same sense of a future-oriented musical direction… Their aim is to build a coherent programme of Belgian and foreign artists whose sole concern is to liven up the dance floor. No headliners or hype producers come to play their five-tracks and three remixes, just real DJs who know how to mix and offer a musical journey, without getting stuck in just one genre.

  • Date: 23 March 2018
  • line-up: Young Marco (NL), Central (DA), DJ Sports (DK), Rick Shiver (BE), Arthur Tixhon (BE), Rey Colino (BE)
  • Venue: QUAY 01

Listen festival

The Listen festival consists of DJ sets, concerts, showcases, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, a vinyl exchange, a music equipment market, and much more. The festival welcomes the best of ‘left-of-centre’ electronic music and national and international clubbing to Brussels. Clubbers will discover up-and-coming new artists and get carried away by the rhythms of well-known artists.

  • The headliners: Actress x Mount Kimbie (B2B DJ), Antal, Bicep (DJ), DJ Stingray, Floating Points (DJ), Hunee, John Talabot, Jonny Nash & Suzanne Kraft ‘live’, Lefto, Luke Slater & Mr. Scruff
  • Dates: 29 March to 1 April 2018
  • Venues: Horta Gallery, Flagey, Beursschouwburg, La Madeleine, ING Art Center…

Surrender

The second year of this new electro party concept. The project was started by Darko, the DJ who created the famous Statik Dancin nights and a member of the team that founded the Brussels Electronic Music Festival. In close cooperation with the arts of the digital scene, in 2018 Darko is expanding Surrender to QUAY 01. “Surrender” grew out of an original idea that came to the Belgian DJ following a long stay in Berlin, the temple of electro. Its concept is a series of events intended to promote up-and-coming Belgian and international artists and to indulge a shared passion for electronic music.

  • Date: 7 April 2018
  • Venue: QUAY 01
  • Line-up: Hubble (live), Andrea Ferlin (DJ), Darko (DJ)

The birthday of Fuse: Len Faki extended set

Founded in 1994 by Thierry Coppens and Peter Decuypere, Fuse is THE techno temple of Brussels. It has seen the greatest names of the genre behind the decks (with no exceptions). It’s a must for every self-respecting clubber. The unique atmosphere that reigns here attracts people in the know from far away and the scenes at the end of the night, bordering on hysteria, have become almost legendary.

  • Date: 14 April 2018
  • Venue: Fuse

BOZAR Night

Enjoy an international line-up of acclaimed and up-and-coming electronic music DJs and producers whilst visiting major exhibitions: that’s the unique concept behind BOZAR NIGHT. This edition is one you can’t afford to miss. The minimal house and techno of Detroit-born Magda, the subtle and elegant electronic music of veteran Frenchwoman Chloé, the raw, danceable beats of Kyoka, Haring’s playful experiments, the dark abstract textures of Monolithe Noir and the narrative sounds of Liyo will lift your spirits into this unique BOZAR Night.

  • Date: 30 April 2018
  • Venue: BOZAR
Tourisme Bar Halles Saint Géry Sint Gorikshallen © Jean-Pol Lejeune

The venues

C12

After more than 5 years spent organising musical events in Brussels, as well as Antwerp, Ghent, Paris and Berlin, Deep in House has just launched its new project: C12. The name comes from one of the unused spaces of the Horta Gallery, a gallery located in the bowels of Brussels Central Station and designed by Victor Horta.The aim of this new space is to promote tolerance and open-mindedness in a cultural, festive setting. On the programme: concerts, exhibitions, parties and artistic performances.

  • Dates: several dates every week
  • Venue: Horta Gallery
Tourisme Nightclub ¬© Jean-Pol Lejeune

Le Zodiak

Founded in 2016, the ZODIAK is a club that is open to everyone. The ZODIAK offers a night- time experience that is out of this world only a few steps from the Grand-Place de Bruxelles. Fans of electronic music will be able to enjoy a journey through sound and light in this new place where the clubbing and underground cultures rub up against each other. This spring, ZODIAK’s programme focuses on the promotion of local artists and labels, but also hosts artists from Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

  • Dates: Every Friday and Saturday
  • Venue: Zodiak


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A year to celebrate the art of Circus

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How fond we all were of circus in our childhood days. The animals and the acrobats and the jokers. Circus might be thing of past in some part of the world, but the art is still alive and kicking. Actually, there are lot of efforts to preserve and modernise this art. European capital Brussels has been leading efforts in this regard. There is no city in world better than Brussels when we talk about showcasing its different art forms. Similarly, Brussels is now for the next one year showcasing the art of circus. Brussels also has a focusCIRCUS.brussels for this specific purpose.

FocusCIRCUS.brussels aims to promote the vitality of Brussels circus arts, from March 2018 to March 2019, with an explosion of shows and performances in Brussels, a tour of 8 Brussels circus troupes in Italy and France, an avalanche of festivals, and many more initiatives. FocusCIRCUS.brussels kicks off on 12 March 2018 at BOZAR with a celebratory evening and the opening of Festival UP!.

© Sylvain Frappat

BRUSSELS’ BEST AMBASSADORS ARE ITS ARTISTS
FocusCIRCUS.brussels is an initiative of Minister Rachid Madrane, in charge of the Promotion of Brussels for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. After contemporary art in Paris in 2016 (INDISCIPLINE) and contemporary dance in Berlin in 2017 (RADIKAL), FocusCIRCUS.brussels is the third edition in a series that aims to promote Brussels by showcasing its artists, with a project that’s bigger than its two predecessors.

“In the last few years, circus has become one of Brussels’ nest calling cards. Every year since 2015, I have supported a Brussels troupe with the presenting of a show as part of the famous Avignon festival. In 2018 several major events will be taking place, highlighting Brussels’ circus landscape. Notable among them will be the organisation, for the 1st time ever in Brussels, of the Fresh Circus #4 seminar – which gathers more than 400 circus professionals – and the new campus for the ESAC (Brussels’ circus arts college), one of the world’s most prestigious circus art schools. FocusCIRCUS.brussels was born of the desire to present the extraordinary vitality of Brussels’ circus arts to circus a cionados, novices, producers and all those who love Brussels.” exclaimed Minister Madrane excitedly.

This year-long celebration of the circus arts will be made up of two sections, both national and international. Visit.Brussels, Brussels’ tourism agency, is in charge of the organisation of focusCIRCUS.brussels. Patrick Bontinck, CEO of visit.brussels has said that, “Outside of the launch evening on 12 March at BOZAR, focusCIRCUS,brussels’s concept is not to create new initiatives because Brussels is already brimming with circus festivals and events. Organised in collaboration with Espace Catastrophe, ESAC circus college, the City of Brussels and the Halles de Schaerbeek, focusCIRCUS.brussels aims to promote Brussels and its circus scene by uniting, under one name and project, the four partner’s various events, and supporting them with their communication and distribution.”

FocusCIRCUS.brussels kicks off in Brussels on 12 March with a grand festive evening at BOZAR and the opening of Festival UP!, then continues until March 2019 with the UP!, HOPLA!, and Hors Pistes festivals, shows and performances by students from ESAC and the Fresh Circus#4 seminar. The international tour of 8 Brussels circus troupes in Italy and France starts in September 2018 and finishes in January 2019. Troupes will include Back Pocket, Carré Curieux, Cie la scie du Bourgeon, Cie Menteuses, Gaël Santisteva, Piergiorgio Milano, Poivre Rose, Claudio Stellato.

Have a look at some other snap shots of this years UP! festival-

© Sylvain Frappat

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Comic Strip Festival gets bigger, bolder and rewarding too!

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The Annual feature for the comic lovers of the world is here again. If you love comics, than you have enough time to plan for this once in a lifetime trip to the European Capital as Brussels is holding its 8th annual Comic Strip Festival from 1st to 3 September 2017. From their beginning at the turn of the century, Belgian comics have really become famous the world over. Many illustrators and writers from our country and its capital are well-known beyond its borders. That is reason enough to dedicate a weekend to this rich cultural heritage.

Bande Dessinée Mur BD Stripmuur Le jeune Albert (c) Olivier van de Kerchove

For its 8th running, the Brussels Comic Strip Festival is marking the occasion with its fair share of new things. Beyond the traditional Balloon’s Day Parade, conferences, and autographs, the event will literally expand its scope. The festival will award Europe’s biggest prizes, offer premiere film and manga screenings, madcap performances, and many other original activities.

Fete de la Bd – Stripfeest (c)VISITBRUSSELS -E.Danhier

Since its debut in 2010, the Brussels Comic Strip Festival has become the main event for comics fans. Young and old, novices and experts, all share a passion for the ninth art and come together each year to participate in the variety of activities on offer. More than 100,000 people and some 250 famous authors gather every year. For this 2017 edition, the essential events are definitely on the schedule: autograph sessions, the predecessors of the great Oldtimer Rally, the Balloon’s Day Parade and many more. There’s a whole range of activities to delight everyone.

© visit.brussels – Eric Danhier – 2017

Festival also gets a new prestigious location. Besides the Parc de Bruxelles, le Brussels Comic Strip Festival will take over the prestigious setting of Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts, BOZAR. Two new places that pair phenomenally well together for the Brussels Comic Strip Festival. Festival-goers will be able to stroll along as they please, enjoying countless activities and novelties on offer wherever they go. From hundreds of autograph signings to premiere cartoon screenings and multiple exhibitions and encounters with professionals, ninth art fans will have plenty to keep them entertained. For the first time in its history and thanks to its new set-up at Bozar, the Brussels Comic Strip Festival will also be able to offer premiere film screenings!

Fete de la BD – Stripfeest

Comic strip writing has become something of an endangered activity in these last few years, with the industry’s professionals often finding it hard to make a living from it. As the organisers of the Comic Strip Festival, visit.brussels has been working in close collaboration with the Brussels-Capital Region in a bid to show its support for the creative process and bring existing initiatives together by launching a series of awards, most of which will be in cash and will allow the winners to fund their work. Offering €100,000 in prize money, a total of seven awards have already been confirmed, with several more in line to be added to the list between now and September.

Jean-David Morvan

Brussels Comic Strip Festival will award some brand new comics prizes for the first time: The Atomium Prizes, during a gala evening when no less than €100,000 will be awarded for the best new works from the past year. French comics writer, Jean-David is the sponsor of the Atomium Prizes. Jean-David Morvan will be on hand at his exhibition throughout the Brussels Comic Strip Festival. There he will discuss his work and welcome his main contributors to his couch. His contributors will come and show him (as well as the audience) their new panels, answer questions, improvise autograph sessions and other original performances.

This year the Brussels Comic Strip Festival is also celebrating good old Gaston’s 60th birthday. To mark the occasion, the Spirou Festival is inviting the famous, sixty-year-old lazybones to the Brussels Comic Strip Festival. An exhibition, a musical performance, conferences – it will be impossible to miss this perennial blunderer.

Over these three days, the European capital will eat, sleep, and breathe comics. A little train will travel around town and stop at the essential Ninth Art destinations around Brussels (Comics Art Museum, the MOOF, murals, book stores, etc.), free guided tours will bring visitors to see comics murals, many organisations from the Brussels-Capital Region will offer activities and discounts related to the Ninth Art. In short, from 1-3 September 2017, comics will be on the menu just about everywhere!

The Brussels Comic Strip Festival has become more international over the last two years. As part of the MIXITY.2017 year and in keeping with the diverse nationalities that call Brussels home, the booths and activities on offer are multi-cultural and multi-lingual. Languages will be well represented: in addition to the three national languages, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and even Korean will be heard. Clear information available in several languages will be included in the Brussels Comic Strip Festival programme. The Brussels Comic Strip Festival is a Brussels-Capital Region initiative with the support of the City of Brussels and the COCOF, coordinated by visit.brussels.

Eroticism in comics

The 2017 Brussels Comic Strip Festival is taking advantage of its new setting to offer a number of comics-themed exhibitions. Numerous exhibitions will be held there, allowing visitors to explore certain iconic realms of the 9th Art. There will even be an exhibition devoted to eroticism in comics behind closed doors.