A film festival in Brussels, an art festival in Leuven, See you there’s first exhibition, and more. Have a great week!

Film festival: Offscreen 2016

Runs until 20 March Brussels

Every year Offscreen brings a multitude of independent and unreleased films to the big screen, especially championing cult classics and offbeat genres. Film buffs can view the eclectic program of the non-competitive festival in four Brussels locations: Cinema Nova, Cinematek, Bozar, and Cinema Ritcs. One of the highlights: “Heart of a Dog”, a touching and playful film by Lou Reed’s long-time partner Laurie Anderson about mortality and our society at large.

Opening: Walker Evans & Apolonia Sokol at Attic

Wednesday, 9 March, 18h00 Brussels

A little while ago Paris-born Sébastien Ricou stopped his gallery activities to open up Attic, one of Brussels most exciting new art spaces. It’s located in the gallery hub of Rue de la Régence, where Sébastien’s non-white-cube space serves as a welcome change to the classic galleries. With each exhibition he wants to juxtapose an emerging with an established artist, and this time it’s the unlikely combination of American photography legend Walker Evans and French up-and-coming painter Apolonia Sokol.

Art festival: Ithaka

From 8 to 13 March Leuven

In its 24th edition this year, Ithaka has established itself as a major event in Leuven’s cultural calendar. Every year LOKO Cultuur, made up of art students and volunteers, organizes a multifaceted art festival focused on the visual arts in an attempt to present young artists to a larger audience and gain experience in the art sector. This time Ithaka brings together 15 artists at the beginning of their careers, including Melvin Pattyn, Jolien de Roo, and Kevin Collaer. A good day to visit is this Friday, when the so-called International Day invites you to free guided tours, concerts, workshops, and sushi.

Finissage: No place like home at Brussels Art Department

Thursday, 10 March, 18h00 Brussels

This Thursday See you there’s very first exhibition is coming to an end. If you couldn’t make it to the opening, or want to have a beer with us once more, stop by the finissage at Brussels Art Department. The exhibition, “No place like home”, takes you on an unexpected journey through Belgium via the eyes of six young artists, who don’t capture the country as such, but the people and places around them. By creating a sort of pictorial diary that is authentic, intimate and spontaneous all at the same time, their photographs, projections and installations function as puzzle pieces blending together into what is a striking visual account of Belgium today.

Opening: Paradise Lost at Base Alpha Gallery

Thursday, 10 March, 19h00 Antwerp

With “Paradise Lost” Antwerp’s Base Alpha Gallery unites the works of five different artists: Nicolas Pelzer, Koen Taselaar, Elise van Mourik, Filip Vervaet, and Tom Volkaert. German Nicolas Pelzer for example mainly deals with the influence of technology and new media on our lives, and Dutch-born Koen Taselaar creates drawings, illustrations, collages and sculptures. An interesting mix!

Opening: Heterotopia

Thursday, 10 March, 18h00 Brussels

“Heterotopia” brings together four young Brussels-based artists: Caroline Le Méhauté, Charlotte Nieuwenhuys, Mathieu Zurstrassen, and Stéphanie Roland. Each in their own way, they explore the philosophical concept of Heterotopia, an idea by Michel Foucault describing describe places and spaces that function in non-hegemonic conditions: spaces of otherness, which are neither here nor there, that are simultaneously physical and mental, such as the space of a phone call or the moment when you see yourself in the mirror.

Night out: Holger at The Lodge

Saturday, 12 March, 23h00 Brussels

It’s been a while that Holger has thrown one of their legendary parties, so don’t miss this one! They’re back with what’s going to be a night to remember in an abandoned warehouse featuring a quite impressive international line-up including Vancouver producers Pender Street Peppers, Berlin-based Canadian Plo Man, London’s Brian Not Brian, homegrown BKKNT and of course Holger’s Sixsixsixties and Captain Starlight.

Concert night: Belgique en alerte niveau 5 at Magasin 4

Saturday, 12 March Brussels

A few months after the tragic events in Paris and heightened security measures, Belgium is once again under security alert level 5, but this time for a good reason: to rise above the frustration caused and to celebrate the local garage-synth-punk music scene in its very own Belgian way. The creative mind behind the concert night is Elzo Durt, artist, DJ and one half of Belgian-French record label Teenage Menopause. We interviewed the invited bands from Mountain Bike to Regal here.

Cover photo Murielle Victorine Scherre