Art in Leuven, cinema and photography in Brussels, birthday parties in Antwerp, and more. See you there!

Artsy evening: Leuven Museum Night

Wednesday, 23 November, 19h00  Leuven

EUtopia © Filip Dujardin

This Wednesday Leuven’s M Museum hosts a special museum night mixing music, performance, dance and visual art. Until midnight you cannot only discover the museum’s current exhibitions (EUtopia, Yto Barrada, Mary Reid Kelley and more) but also experience Belgian alternative pop group Dez Mona, the contemporary music ensemble SeRenDipTrio and young producer Lingerwalt.

Cinema: Jim Jarmusch at Cinema Galeries

From 24 November to 12 February Brussels

This winter Cinema Galeries dedicates an extensive, fascinating retrospective to celebrated director Jim Jarmusch, which is kicking off this week. The programme includes a multitude of screenings ranging from “Stranger than Paradise” and “Broken Flowers” to “Only Lovers Left Alive”, an exhibition, and an accompanying book by Philippe Azoury. There’s also a Jim Jarmusch-inspired listening session as well as a concert by Belgian band Jesus is my son.

Photography: 4 artists at Contretype

Opens on Tuesday, 23 November Brussels

Nagib Chtaib

Contretype, one of Brussels’ most renowned galleries when it comes to photography, gives you four great reasons for a visit: until 15 January you can discover the works of Arnaud De Wolf, Solal Israel, Benjamin Leveaux, and Nagib Chtaib. While up-and-coming Brussels-based talent Chtaib is mostly making a name for himself with his fashion photography, “Brutal Unfeelingness” is a captivating personal project, a fragmented adventure in the search of identity. De Wolf, also based in Brussels, has a penchant for architectural structures. In his “Heim” series, he shows brutal buildings in deserted snowy landscapes, beautiful, peaceful and  unsettling all at the same time.

Birthday and closing party: Lokaal 01

Friday, 25 November, 19h00 Antwerp

After having had to close down their original location in Breda a couple of years ago, Lokaal 01‘s Antwerp branch now faces the same unfortunate fate. Every year, Lokaal 01 published an open call for residencies followed by exhibitions with a number of different artists from all over the world in an attempt to to support young artists and young oeuvres. This week Aleksandra Chausova presents the final result of her residency, and on Friday there’s the official closing party featuring a book launch and “The Throbbing Wall”, a table theatre. Come say goodbye to a project that we are extremely sad to see disappear. Let’s hope for a comeback!

Festival: Eastern Daze III at Vooruit

From 25 to 27 November Ghent

Manuel Gottsching

If you’re into non-mainstream soundscapes and experimentel music, Eastern Daze is for you. The three-day festival, a collab between concert venue Vooruit, record label Kraak and Sound in Motion, explores the best in hypnotic trance music and other adventurous sounds such as “Deconstructed Exotica” or “Sahel Blues” with a disregard for genre or nationality. A definite highlight is krautrock legend Manuel Göttsching performing his masterpiece ‘E2-E4’, for the first time ever on Belgian ground.

Shopping: Antwerp Fashion Exchange at MoMu

Saturday, 26 November Antwerp

Feel like cleaning out your closet and filling it up with a few new fashionable items? Then come check out the very first edition of the Antwerp Fashion Exchange at a venue that couldn’t be more fitting: MoMu, Antwerp’s fashion museum. The concept here is a bit different from the usual clothing market: you hand in your clothes, the team on site checks what’s tradeable, gives you tickets for each piece, and with these tickets you can get items other people brought. What’s left at the end of the event will go to charity. Entrance is 5€, but the ticket also buys you access to the Rik Wouters and Private Utopia exhibitions. Happy trading!

Night out: Digitalism at Rockerill

Saturday, 26 November, 21h00 Charleroi

Legendary German electronic duo Digitalism is coming to Charleroi’s Rockerill this weekend, the only stop in Belgium during their current tour through Europe. The two-piece, which rose to stardom in 2007 with their magnificent album “Idealism”, realised their third record “Mirage” this year after quite a long break. Have a listen here.

Cover photo Mélanie Ve