The lockdown isn’t over yet, but with museums, galleries and art spaces open again, and many cultural initiatives working hard to offer alternative online events, there’s enough going on in the Belgian arts and culture scene to bring back our weekly agenda. Make sure to check the individual Covid restrictions (some venues require booking appointments in advance), be safe & wear a mask. See you there!
Book launch: Heide Hinrichs at Wiels online
Thursday, 28 January, 19-21h00 Brussels
Heide Hinrichs, a German, Brussels-based artist whose drawings are currently on view at Wiels’ ambitious must-see exhibition Risquons-Tout, presents “shelf documents: art library as practice”, a publication compiling essays, interviews, and drawings while eluding all categories, during this online book launch. It gathers contributions by a number of different artists including Sara De Bondt, Rachel Dedman or Elizabeth Haines, and builds on the project “second shelf” at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, which succeeded in integrating 223 new titles by non-binary, women and queer artists as well as artists of colour in art libraries as a way to fill gaps and amplify voices.
Exhibition: Future Tense Of The Past at Barbé Urbain gallery
Runs until 7 March Ghent
In “Future Tense Of The Past” at Ghent’s Barbé Urbain gallery, everything revolves around time. Using building blocks from the past and present, Belgian artist Ellen Pil, South African American Nokukhanya Langa and Spanish artist Almudena Lobera travel through space and time to imagine the creation of a new reality, connecting the analogue with the digital and figuration with abstraction.
Listening: Studio K – Radio Room at Kanal Pompidou online
Thursday, 28 January, 16-19h00 Brussels
Rethinking how to stay in touch with its audience, Kanal Pompidou has launched Studio K, a radio program that relates to its current exhibition of Swiss icon John Armleder, who already turned to radio back in the 70s in order to share the experiments of his Geneva-based collective on an international scale. Over the course of four weeks, the initiative will feature a myriad of guests from different backgrounds, broadcasting interviews, debates, performances, documentaries, sound creations, rare archive material, carte-blanche programmes, and more. There’ll be a session this Thursday, and you can see the full schedule until 7 February here. An interesting choice in a time that is predominantly ruled by images.
Concert: Brussels Philarmonic at Flagey online
Friday, 29 January, 20h00 Brussels
It of course doesn’t equal taking a seat in Flagey’s beautiful concert hall and enjoying its fantastic acoustics, but it’s probably the closest you can get to a concert these days, and a great way to support the musicians of the Brussels Philharmonic, who have been deprived of doing their jobs and the joy of performing in front of an audience for months. This Friday, you can tune in to a musical program dedicated to wunderkind Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, under Japanese conductor Kazushi Ono.
Opening: As Sirens Rise and Fall at Kunsthal Gent
Friday, 29 January, 20-23h00 Ghent
In her multidisciplinary practice, Belgian artist Aline Bouvy attempts to free herself from the norms unconsciously modelling our desires and dictating what is morally and aesthetically acceptable while critically examining issues of our current society. “As Sirens Rise and Fall” is opening this Friday at Kunsthal Gent, an installation Bouvy created in collaboration with Pierre Dozin and Julien Bouille including four identical remote-controlled cars serving as instruments singing in F sharp minor. Intriguing.
Opening: Tom Volkaert at Everyday Gallery
Saturday, 30 January, 14-19h00 Antwerp
Contemporary ceramics seem to be enjoying quite some popularity at the moment: After Eric Croes at Sorry We’re Closed and Valgerður Sigurðardóttir at Keeteler gallery, Antwerp artist Tom Volkaert presents his take on the ancient genre at Everyday Gallery. In his solos show “As Slow As Possible”, the material and its processing play a central role. By leaving parts of his process up to chance, Volkaert creates tension between the flawless and the imperfect, beauty and horror. The use of transparent material grants the viewer access to the sanctums of his works.
