Brussels Gallery Weekend

On 6 September in Brussels, ENCATC welcomed 16 guests for its 46th Cultural Happy Hour at Brussels Gallery Weekend which celebrates the general reopening of Brussels contemporary art galleries and non profit spaces, gathering together great shows all around the city.

It was the first time ENCATC partnered with the Brussels Gallery Weekend. The collaboration resulted in a wonderful experience for ENCATC's Cultural Happy Hour guests who learned about one of Brussels' major highlights in the artistic field. The group was welcomed by GiannaLia Cogliandro Beyens, ENCATC Secretary General and followed with a presentation by Sybille du Roy, Director of the Brussels Gallery Weekend and Belgian curator Louis-Philippe Van Eeckhoutte. 

The evening's programme continued with a guided visit which included a tour of the exhibition Generation Brussels curated by Louis-Philippe Van Eeckhoutte with the assistance of Clémence Bellisson and showcases works by 12 Brussels-based artists. Against the backdrop of Art Nouveau townhouses and regenerated areas a contemporary art scene is flourishing in Brussels. A generation of artists is drawn to the city for its multicultural flavour and vibrant art community, anchored by galleries, non-profits, schools and residencies. Their work deals with themes of nostalgia, the exploration and documentation of architecture and nature and the tropes of disappearance and memory. It plays with the role of description, of telling things as they are, or inventing new realities. Moreover, Generation Brussels wants to discover, recognise and give support to this generation and bring together artists based in Brussels and working in different media such as drawing, installation, painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography and video.

Also this year, Brussels Gallery Weekend included 40 galleries, a dozen institutions and several artists run spaces who will open their doors to the public. Selected by a committee of renowned galleries (dépendance, Xavier Hufkens, Harlan Levey Projects, Jan Mot, Templon and Waldburger Wouters), participants are chosen for the excellence and audacity of their programmes.