Cultural Compass: Walking dance, digestive art, transportive music and more
Exhibitions, music, architecture, books, festivals… this is Belga English's pick of cultural activities in Flanders and Brussels, published every Sunday.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s EXIT ABOVE at Ancienne Belgique takes a journey to the origins of dance and Western pop music. Inspired by Robert Johnson’s Walking Blues, the performance traces a path back to Schubert’s Der Wanderer, a hallmark of 19th-century songwriting. Contemporary singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees collaborates with Jean-Marie Aerts of TC Matic fame and dancer-guitarist Carlos Garbin to reimagine “walking songs” for today.
These songs prompted De Keersmaeker to explore choreography’s foundation stemming from walking, a simple, instinctive movement often overlooked.
EXIT ABOVE delves into contrasts: solitary wandering versus collective marches, personal introspection versus shared political action, and linear paths versus circular rhythms. The performance reveals how walking connects our inner landscapes of memory and thought, offering a way to navigate the world one step at a time. Sold-out performances are on 13, 14 and 15 January, with a waiting list for tickets.
© VIDEO ROMAEUROPA
On 16 January, Brussels gallery rodolphe janssen will unveil Wim Delvoye: Cloaca. Celebration 2000–2025, marking the 25th anniversary of Cloaca, the controversial work that earned Delvoye global recognition.
The Belgian artist is renowned for blending art, science and social critique in provocative, technically intricate works. Cloaca, a machine replicating human digestion, debuted in 2000, transforming an everyday biological process into art. Curator Harald Szeemann hailed it as “the pinnacle of Belgian surrealism”, noting Delyove’s use of humour, technological skill and commentary on consumerism.
The exhibition will feature more than 40 original drawings detailing Delvoye’s creative and technical journey, alongside a diverse collection of around 100 works. Highlights include sculptures of Cloaca’s faeces, the Cloaca Travel Kit, Anal Kiss prints, merchandise, a tattooed pigskin and an X-ray of the machine.
Khatia Buniatishvili’s exquisite blend of sensitivity, lyricism and dazzling technique makes her a perfect pianist for Rachmaninov’s lush, emotive concertos. Paired with the world-renowned Danish National Symphony Orchestra and led by Fabio Luisi, this performance promises to be an unforgettable evening at De Singel in Antwerp.
New York is the unifying element for this programme, with Bent Sørensen’s Evening Land at the centre. Sørensen captures the vibrant, chaotic energy of the American city and its structural skyline and contrast it with the serene beauty of Denmark’s Zealand region, where the composer grew up. This tension between urban and pastoral life is also present in Rachmaninov’s experiences. Buniatishvili shines in his formidable Third Piano Concerto, a piece Rachmaninov himself debuted in America.
The evening concludes with Mahler’s vivid First Symphony, a work full of emotional intensity and evocative imagery. Last tickets available for 17 January.
At Xavier Hufkens gallery, Rawness Dancing: With Intellect celebrates the groundbreaking work of American artist McArthur Binion, tracing 15 years of his artistic evolution. The exhibition spans three floors and brings together key series, including the Haints, DNA:Studies, and six new paintings from the Visual:Ear series, which explore the intersection of music and abstraction.
The Visual:Ear series honours jazz legends like Duke Ellington and Cecil Taylor, blending musical scores with layered grids. Using dense, repetitive markings, Binion creates patterns that conceal and reveal, inviting viewers into a dialogue between sound, memory and form. His deeply personal Haints series reflects on his Mississippi roots and the spectral presence of the past. These works forgo his typical underlayer to confront themes of trauma, resilience and cultural history.
The DNA:Studies series anchors the exhibition, with collaged layers of personal artefacts like old address books serving as a metaphor for memory and identity. Through meticulous mark-making, Binion transforms minimalist grids into dynamic records of lived experience. On display from 16 January until 8 March.
Additional cultural coverage from Belga this week: Belgian co-production Emilia Pérez awarded four Golden Globes, AfricaMuseum director addresses diversity and colonial history concerns from employees, Stolen painting by Jacob Jordaens found in France, now back in Belgium, Government invests over 3m euros in renovation Brussels cultural venue Flagey
Ongoing events
Dürer: Master of the Renaissance, Museum De Reede
Testerep, Venetian Galleries
Fireflies, Art and History Museum
Eternal Spring: Gardens and Tapestries in the Renaissance, Museum Hof van Busleyden
Whats the Story? KMSKA
Emile Claus: The Prince of Luminisim, Mudel Museum of Deinze
Alechinsky, Pinceau Voyageur
Cindy Sherman, ENSOR 2024, FOMU
Masquerade, Make-up and Ensor, MOMU
Ensor's States of Imagination, Plantin-Moretus Museum
In Your Wildest Dreams: Ensor Beyond Impressionism, KMKSA
Alternative Narrative, MSK
Lucy McKenzie Super Palace, Z33
René Magritte X Emily Mae Smith, Magritte Museum
The Panamarenko House
Panamarenko’s Magic Carpet, S.M.A.K.
(MOH)
#FlandersNewsService | KMSKA © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS