Brussels in English

La Maison des Arts in Schaerbeek is a truly hidden, hidden Brussels gem. A short dark alley  takes you just steps from dusty Chaussée de Haecht and suddenly you are in a bucolic scene, a two hundred year old manor house with a lovely garden.. The manor house is celebrating its bicentenary with two shows (Au jardin & Habiter la Maison) featuring sixteen artists. In addition to the shows there i...

Home to citizens of over 184 countries, Brussels is replete with expats creating a deep cosmopolitan aspect to life here. We spoke with Alexandra Templeton, who has been in Brussels for 7 years, about her expat journey. www.allytfit.com

Almost 100 years ago, prolific Belgian architect Joseph Diongre designed a modernist masterpiece, a house known as the Withuis for its white façade. He designed everything from the architecture to the furniture and even the garden . The same family occupied the house for 91 years and the new owner has had the house completely restored. Until November 22 the public will be able to see it both insid...

If you like art and nature and want to take advantage of the lovely autumn weather this is the perfect day long getaway. Butor is a new biennial outdoor art event taking place in the village of Molenbaix near Tournai. A twenty acre property with spectacular views is the location for over two dozen artworks from as many artists that examine or question the relationships between art and nature. Arme...

The annual comic book festival is one of the most popular events in Brussels so the announcement that it would not be held this year was very bad news. For many years in the Royal Park and then in the Gare Maritime at Tour & Taxis the festival drew people from far and wide, but now it was off the schedule. Stepping in to save the day, Didier Wauters, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs for the C...

It's the ninth edition of the Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF) and team member Julie Van Houtte tells us about the wide-reaching, incredibly diverse, eclectic roster of films that will be screened over ten days for your pleasure. Through 12 September. briff.be/en/

Are you an artist who would appreciate exposure of your work to thousands of people at no expense to you or them? If so, Carte de Visite is for you. Every  year, the City of Brussels takes over the sleek, modernist Vanderborght  building downtown and turns it into a showcase for Brussels-based artists. If you would like to participate, go to their website and fill out the form. It's in French or D...

 From 24 to 28 June Various Voices, the European festival of LGBTQI+ choirs, will take place in Brussels. Over 350 concerts are scheduled over five days in various landmark venues. Organizer Walid Aissaoui gives us an overview of the very full program. https://various-voices.be/  

 One of Brussels' brightest jewels, the Van Buuren Museum and Gardens, is hosting a show that is a dialogue between the works of Anto  Carte and Gustave van de Woestyne, two celebrated Belgian XXth century artists who barely knew each other but whose works reflect each other's at various levels; spiritually and physically.  Curator Manon Magotteaux gives us her insight on this felicitous synergy....

The Halles Saint-Géry was built in 1881 as a meat and egg market. Over the years it has served a number of purposes, mostly cultural. Now it is going back to its roots as a food market but with cultural events such as the Brussels Jazz Weekend. Project Leader Lucile de Calan shares the details with us https://en.hallessaintgery.be/event/le-marche-saint-gery-2/

It's the 200th anniversary of legendary Belgian crystal and glassworks Val Saint- Lambert and there are events in various cities. In Brussels Design Museum is putting on a small but gorgeous exhibition focussed on the mid 20th century. Museum Director Arnaud Bozzini discusses what made the company so special. designmuseum.brussels/en/

The Musée d'Ixelles has been closed for close to ten years, denying us the pleasure of seeing its superlative collection of Belgian art. Recently the museum held an information day to give us the latest news. Museum Director and Conservator Claire Leblanc spoke with us about the important changes that have been made during this closed period and gives us hope since she announced that the museum wi...

Post Colonial?, the current temporary exhibition at the House of European History is an illuminating look into the centrality of colonialism in European history, how it has over five centuries shaped lives and how it continues to have an impact and a global legacy right up until the present day. The centuries-old issues are made to feel immediate to the visitor by personal stories of colonized peo...

Designing Childhood, a current show at Design Museum Brussels retraces the evolution of furniture for children through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a history that will surprise you. Museum Director Arnaud Bozzini unveils the story for us. https://designmuseum.brussels/en/ Photo courtesy of Magis

It Never SSST, the Belgian pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale is particularly vibrant this year as it features live performances for the first time. Miet Warlop, this year's exhibiting artist transforms the Belgian pavilion into a charged arena where language, music and collective disorientation collide. We speak with pavilion curator Caroline Dumalin.  For those who can't make it to Venice from...

Bozar's exhibition Picture Perfect: Beauty Through a Contemporary Lens takes on the increasingly hot button issue of the specificity of beauty. What is beauty and who decides? Is there room for different ideals? How are some people pressured into undergoing certain procedures and how are some people changing the norms? Curator Christel Tsilibaris leads us through this thorny landscape. https://www...

"I am here - je suis là - ik ben hier" is a free trilingual exhibition at Espace Vanderborght exploring self-representation from traditional portraits to selfies. Organized by the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), it features interactive installations examining identity, media, and social media culture. Art Historian Margaux Van Uytvanck tells us what to expect. Free. Through 30 May

In this podcast Writers Festival of Belgium’s Alia Papageorgiou talks to Dave Keating a long time journalist in Brussels, usually covering EU US relations as a newscaster, he talks through how his levels of anger and passion towards the new status quo between the two continents birthed his book ‘The Owned Continent, How to free Europe from American military, economic, and cultural dependence. Enjo...

There's a new food hall in an ex parking structure in the Saint-Boniface neighborhood in Ixelles. It's called RATZ and features cuisines from West Asia to East Asia. Food impresario Thierry Goor describes what he has created. ratzfoodmarket.com

The Brussels Short Film Festival (BSFF) is back with a 29th edition brimming with films to watch and events to enjoy. Corentin Deblire, festival co-coordinator outlines the action for us. 22 April to 2 May bsff.be

When is a lift not just a lift? When it connects the Mont des Arts with the rooftop of the Belgian Royal Library and its unique view of the city. Library Director Sara Lammens gives us the details. https://www.kbr.be/en/

The Bozar is presenting Bellezza e Bruttezza (Beauty and Ugliness), a look at how artists of the Renaissance in Italy and the Southern Nelherlands represented those extremes. Zoë Gray, Director of Exhibitions at Bozar, tells us how the show was realized and how they managed to assemble a very rich display of major works from institutions far and wide. www.bozar.be

Staff at Visit.brussels protested near the city's parliament against budget cuts. The agency, which promotes Brussels worldwide, must save €5.7 million this year. More than 1,700 people have signed a petition against the cuts. Benjamin Vella, head of visitor services at Visit.brussels explains what is at stake.

 Ho Tzu Nyen, internationally renowned artist from Singapore, is presenting his first exhibition in Belgium at BOZAR. It's a new work entitled P for Power and is accompanied by two large-scale installations, T for Time and Time Pieces. The artist tells us of his inspirations which include his childhood concept of Brussels, created by his discovery of Tintin and Snowy, figures that embody curiosity...

Some short clips from the many interviews we recorded around Brussels in the aftermath of the 22 March 2016 terror attacks. Listen to the interviews in full: - Kate Havrlik | Richard Harris at the Bourse | Ex-ambassador James Cain | More