Brussels in English

The Bellevue Museum and the King Baudouin Fondation are commemorating the first scientific expedition to Antarctica. It's been 125 years since the Belgian expedition on the vessel Belgica was the first to collect data and spend the winter in Antarctica. The exhibition entitled The End of the World! will cover the historic voyage, the present day situation and the possibilities for ensuring a brigh...

Huberty & Breyne, an art gallery with two locations in Paris and one in Brussels specialises in comic book art and more particularly they aim to highlight the connections that can occur between comic art and contemporary art.  For the most part their shows are commercial endeavours but this holiday season they are offering us a splendid gift; to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of...

The 2024 edition of the Brussels Cultural Hotlist 100 is out and Guy de Bellefroid, director of the Brussels Foundation for the Arts, tells us why this little book is essential to navigate the myriad cultural events that take place in Brussels all through the year.

To celebrate 130 of Art Nouveau the Horta Museum has joined the Ixelles Museum and the Museum of Fashion and Lace to put on Art Nouveau: From Dresses to Paintings. The Fashion Museum has lent dresses and fans, and the Ixelles Museum has lent paintings from its collection.  The superb interiors of the Horta Museum are the scene which is set with the pieces on loan to create a synergy between the di...

Traditional Belgian street food made with traditional recipes using all locally sourced ingredients served in an iconic building and accompanied by concerts is the concept behind MAYO which has just opened in the Halles Saint-Géry. To celebrate the opening, there is a show devoted to the Belgian frite which is exposed on the exterior walls of the Halles until December 21st. Cédric Gérard, owner an...

The Royal Museum of Art and History is ending its participation in Brussels Year of Art Nouveau 2023  with: Josef Hoffman: Under Beauty's Spell, a show that reveals the Austrian architect's sixty years of forward thinking design. His greatest project is the Palais Stoclet, one of the most iconic Art Nouveau buildings in Brussels. Curator Adriàn Prieto tells us about Hoffmann's lifelong quest to im...

After a very successful run in Paris, TINTIN The Immersive adventure has made its way to Brussels at Tour & Taxis.. Grégoire Meunier, director of Culturespaces which developed the show with Tintinimaginatio, tells us what we can expect. https://tintin-immersiveadventure.com/en

It's the eleventh edition of the Semaine de la Frite, a week during which Belgium celebrates its peerless chips and the over five thousand chip shops all across the kingdom. BPost is selling a special edition of five stamps which come on a sheet that, when folded, becomes a chip truck, each stamp in the image of a different historic chip shop. There's a show on at the Folklore Museum (MuFIm) of To...

Hangar is presenting Close Enough 12 Women Photographers of Magnum, an exhibition celebrating the 75 years of Magnum Photo. Global Cultural Director for Magnum, Andréa Holzheer, explains how Magnum was revolutionary when it was founded, and gives us the details on the all woman show. hangar.art Through mid December 2023

We took a trip to KU Leuven and their Literature department and spoke to Professor Elke D'hoker asking her, 'what is a short story?'

The exhibition Visions of tomorrow & Living together shows the work of the 10 winners of the Comic Art Europe project. These authors present their own "visions of tomorrow" and, together, question our current world. Along with the Lyon BD Organisation (France), the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (UK), and the Escola Joso de Comics (Spain), the Belgian Comic Strip Center has been involv...

It seems like every day there is a new temporary or permanent attraction available at Tours & Taxis. The latest temporary event is Bubble Planet which epitomizes "fun for the whole family." Comprising eleven distinct environments including the jaw-dropping infinity Room and the serene Cloud Room, the exhibition is open to everyone from babes-in-arms to seniors. David Zylberberg, Vice President...

Canadian phhotographer Ève Cadieux turned her father's enthusiasm for the 1967 Montreal World's Fair into a photographic quest that took her around the world to see what was left of the future at many world's fair sites. A selection of her big format, striking, backlit photos of the various fairs take over both levels of one of the Atomium's spheres for a stunning show entitled I Have Seen the Fut...

If you thought that the 19th century architectural movements in Brussels were limited to the Neo-classical and Art Nouveau, the second edition of the Brussels Biennale of Eclectic Architecture (BBEA)  is here to put you straight. From the Palace of Justice and the Bourse to various churches, industrial buildings and countless private homes the Eclectic Style is very present and the BBEA gives visi...

Europalia is a biennial event celebrating a European  country. This year it's Georgia's turn. Dirk Vermaelen, Europalia Artistic director, tells us what to expect. October 2023 - January 2024 https://europalia.eu/en

We talk to Joanna Booth an Editor, Academic, Journalist and long term writer from Bristol who takes us through the leaps and bounds, needed to get to grips with the short story.

In this episode we continue our query - What is a Writers Festival? With none other than Mitchell Kaplan of Books and Books and the Miami Book Fair in conversation with Alia Papageorgiou.

Brussels' PARCOURS Street Art is celebrating its tenth anniversary with nine new murals and three weeks of tours (self or guided), an exhibition of the work of hip hop photographers Martha Cooper and NIka Kramer, documentary screenings and a major closing party. Thierry Dubois from All About Things gives us the details and explains the philosophy behind the event. www.parcoursstreetart.brussels

The Eat Festival will take place in the Gare Maritime at Tour & Taxis from September 28th to October 1st while the BXLBeerFest will be taking place next door in Shed 1 at Tours & Taxis September 30th & October 1st. So they decided to work together; giving the visitor the opportunity to mix and match food and beer. Cédric Dautinger of the Beer Fest and Jeroen Roppe of Visit Brussels exp...

Farm Prod, the legendary Belgian street art collective that has enchanted people around the world with their wide array of mural styles is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a free 1500 sq. meter exhibition at La Vallée, the vintage industrial space which is now an eclectic cultural venue. The show is a magnificent explosion of creativity and humanity which will stay with you. Member Guillaume...

Downtown Brussels is transformed into Cinema City as the sixth edition of the Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF) gets underway from 27 June to 5 July. Setting up its big top on Place de Brouckère, the festival village serves as a hub for the annual cinema event. Festival goers can congregate and meet invited festival guests, enjoy a drink and a snack and discuss the films screened at UGC...

Jeanfrançois Prins, a jazz musician, composer, and the director of GAM Records, an independent record company which specializes in Jazz (but not only) is the third generation of the family that has produced and promoted jazz and music in all its facets in Brussels since the 1940’s. He recounts for us this quintessential Belgian story. https://www.gam-music.com/

Ohme presents its new artistic-scientific exhibition, Tell All The Truth But Tell It Slant at Face B. This intriguing and fascinating collective exhibition explores the concept of truth and the subject of the construction of knowledge, through the relationships between art, technology, science and society. Curator Camilla Colombo explains everything including how a line from a poem by Emily Dickin...

The current show Brussels Queer Graphics at Design Museum Brussels looks at 70 years of gay life and activism through its ever changing graphic expression and presence. ULB Professor David Paternotte takes us through the history and the often serendipitous nature of the preservation process of this rich collection of documents. Through 5 November 2023 https://designmuseum.brussels/

Do you want to discover Brussels from a bike but don't know which streets to take? Pro Velo has just what you need: a biking guide that contains 12 different routes throughout the region. Author and Pro Velo member Thomas Detry tells us what we will find in his book. www.provelo.be