Everybody is saying that BXL is kind of extinct in summer time, and it’s true, all families seem to have left the first day of vacances (or even before). BUT there is still so much going on in this city with a wonderful climate at the moment. It’s time to discover further cultural projects and initiatives and in our case, it’s time to see the things which we definitely want to see before leaving ….
There is one guy in town who really caught my attention through a project which turns something inside out and engages local communities into visual art - its Eric Vanuytven and his Chez Madeleine Night Shop series. I like his concept of approaching one of the oldest night shops in town Chez Madeleine in the city center run by Mister Moon. He organised several exhibitions in the night shop with great interventions and performances, in spring the concept was turned around again and the night shop has been invited to be exhibited at Recyclart. This time Chez Madeleine opened an exhibition by Eric Vanuytven in the newly established art space run by 5 artists’s collectives in Chateau Noir. The off-space in the massive building with endless apartments in Anderlecht not only tries to do its own thing but also engages the neighbours, for instance with the urban gardening project along the big street in front of the building as well as in the backyard where they cultivate together an impressive variety of herbs, vegetables and fruits together. Great! With his exhibition of paintings evaluated by the transformation of jelly sweets with the help of passersby Vanuytven also reached out to curious non-art interested people.

The four of us had also the great opportunity to see Solo Marathon at the GXII Festival, the yearly festival at p.a.r.t.s. Graduates are presenting works from the rosas repertoire, works in progress, talks, concerts, installations and the like at the fantastic in- and outdoor spaces of p.a.r.t.s. Brussels. It was nice to see the revised 1 to 3 minutes solos originally created for the kunstenfestivaldesartes 2017 with its incredible diversity of dancers and approaches…

For the whole blog of the brusselsARTproject click here.

That building and above all what’s going on inside and around that institution, founded by choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and De Munt Opera director Bernard Foccroulle more than two decades ago, might be the reason why Belgium is the main producer of outstanding contemporary dance and performance work.
I had the great pleasure to occupy one of P.A.R.T.S. rehearsal rooms as my office last week as the artists Francesca Grilli, for whom I am doing production assistance currently, is having a residency there via workspaceBrussels.

*the holy halls of rosas are spreading their energy*
… probably as they all are unique in the sense that they are having a window front linking the rehearsing performers with the outside …