Jules François Crahay is a forgotten genius of XXth century fashion who was known as the Belgian Christian Dior. The Brussels Fashion & Lace Museum is currently presenting a  richly appointed first ever retrospective of his work entitled Back to the Spotlight. Head of Exhibitions and Publications Nicolas Lor tells us all about the not to be missed exhibition.
https://www.fashionandlacemuseum.brussels/en/
Until 10/11/24.

With over 100 events and locations the 18th edition of Brussels Design September underscores the important position design has in Brussels' economy. Until September 30th you will be able to go to exhibitions, visit stores and studios, have personal encounters, attend lectures, workshops, and openings, in a showcase of Belgian excellence as well as a participation of Prague's most innovative design projects.
Event manager Elizabeth Djam tells us what to expect. designseptember.be

To celebrate the centenary of Surrealism, there have been a number of special exhibitions in various museums in Brussels. One of them is coming to a close on  June 2nd so if you haven't been to the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) to see their fascinating show James Ensor: Inspired by Brussels, do yourself a favour and go before it's too late. Daan van Heesch, the curator of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the KBR explains how Ensor, known as " painter from Ostend" had very strong ties to Brussels and how, though he was not a surrealist, he claimed to be an inspiration to the Surrealists.
https://www.kbr.be/en/agenda/expo-ensor/
February 22 to June 2 2024

The Festival Panorama is uncovering the Mont des Arts' secrets and hidden gems. Isabelle Vanhoonacker, Vice President of the Mont Des Arts Association tells us what they have in store for us. https://panoramakunstberg.be/en/

The Brussels Short Film Festival is celebrating its 25th edition with a retrospective of the best of the past and look forward to the best of the latest. Co-founder Céline Masset tells us all about it. www.bsff.be/en

California native, award-winning Brussels chef Alex Joseph entered the pandemic with one restaurant and came out of the pandemic with two restaurants. We hear from him and from Fela Herzog, the chef at Alex's new restaurant. http://www.rougetomate.be/ https://joseph-resto.com/

The third edition of the Best Prawn Croquettes in Brussels competition pitted 19 chefs with food establishments (restaurant, canteen, food counter or food truck) in the Brussels region against each other for bragging rights for the year. We hear from organiser Olivier Marette of Visit Brussels, jury member food writer Caroline D'Hont and Sofitel chef Gabriele Petrucci. After a blind tasting which took place at Comme Chez Soi, Les Brasseries Georges was proclaimed this year's winner.

Recently, the yet to open KANAL - Centre Pompidou Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art presented its first acquisitions. Jennifer Beauloye, Collections & Research Manager for the museum explains how they are building their permanent collection. www.kanal.brussels

Nupur Tron, founder of the Fondation Frison Horta brings us up to date on her ongoing restoration of the Victor Horta designed Hôtel Frison. https://www.foundation-frison-horta.be/

We have a unique opportunity to see the poster art of Keith Haring, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein together in one place, courtesy of Hamburg's Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe. Mario Iacampo who organized the show Pop Masters tells us what it entails. www.expopopmasters.be

Roel Jacobs, Brussels historian, remembers his friend and colleague Freddy Thielemans. Freddy was a much loved mayor of Brussels who seemed to have been born for the job. Roel describes a man of many facets.

The 41st edition of Anima the Brussels animated film festival is taking place from 25 February to 6 March live and online. Co-Director Karin Vandenrydt tells us all about the very full program being offered this year. www.animafestival.be

Charlotte von Thaden of explore.brussels highlightsyearly  some of the many events of the 6th edition of the BANAD Festival, the celebration of Brussels' Art Nouveau and Art Deco heritage.

There are over 80 artisanal bakeries in Brussels but it's not always easy to find them. Luckily for us, journalist Géry Brusselmans created the website Tartine et Boterham which supplies all the information you need to be able to eat the best bread and pastries available; He also puts out a guide and the 2024 issue came out recently. We spoke with Brusselmans at the launch party for this year's edition.
www.tartine-et-boterham.be

Kasia Redzisz, the artistic director of the KANAL-Centre Pompidou Brussels Museum tells us her plans and the challenges she faces to transform the 48,000m² ex-Citroën garage into a world-leading contemporary art museum.

Do you ever go to an art exhibition and think you could do just as well? Belgians got the chance to prove that when Museum Pass put out a call last September for anyone who wanted to send them a photo of a work they had made themselves. The result is called L’Expo Nationale, and it is being staged in 15 museums all across the country.

Living and working in another country can be difficult - and this time of year can be a challenge for some. Parminder Shah discusses expat mental health with Alessia and Nikki, two experts from the clinical team at CHS Belgium.

The Musée d’Ixelles has just won the 2021 European Art Explora Award which rewards museum projects that are conceived to attract visitors who don’t normally frequent cultural institutions. The winning Ixelles project is entitled Musée Comme Chez Soi (Museum at Home).  Claire Leblanc, director of the Ixelles Museum explains the project. http://www.museumofixelles.irisnet.be/en?set_language=en

Beliris and Kanal have collaborated to equip the new pedestrian/cycling bridges over the canal linking Brussels city and Molenbeek with art pieces. They chose LAb(au) (Laboratory for architecture and urbanism) to create an interactive work on the Loredana Marchi bridge entitled Kontexte. Els Vermang of LAb(au) tells us what it's all about. https://www.lab-au.com

The Brussels Beer Project is nearing the completion of their new brewery along the canal. In the meantime they have turned their original brewery on Dansaert Street into a lambic brewery, the first new lambic brewery in Brussels in 50 years. Co-founder Sébastien Morvan tells us why lambic is "the most magical of beers", how they are making the beer in the traditional way but are breaking some rules at the same time and how the brewery exemplifies modern cosmopolitan Brussels with two lambic brewers, one American and one Brazilian, while celebrating Brussels' traditions. www.beerproject.be

Notes from Brussels, by Dutch filmmaker Nadine Van Loon, follows three women working for the EU – a French parliamentary assistant, a high-ranking German official and a Polish trade journalist – to try to make some sense of how women deal with the pressures of an all-consuming job.

In our series on expat groups in Belgium - also broadcast on our community webradio - the Bulletin talks to RBCC Chairman Chris Hutchins and life-long cricket fan and mum Kim Revill, who coordinated a recently-published booklet about the club

Here are two festive events for the international community: a stage version of the beloved story of The Snowman and a concert of Christmas carols by a devoted group of musical expats. Organiser Mary Gow gives all the details.

There’s a warm glow of lights and drinks in a massive tent during Schuman Lights Up. Hosted by Schuman Square, the event features festive lighting on and around Schuman as well as international initiatives inside the tent. Organiser Marion Wolfers explains all.

There's a new museum in downtown Brussels: The Museum of Infinite Realities (MOIR) in which the visitor calls a lot of the shots; so it's immersive but also reactive. Co-founder Kristian Gilroy explains how  visitors become the hero of their own visit.
https://www.museumofinfiniterealities.com/en

The 2022 edition of the Brussels Cultural Guide is out with a new name, a new format and extended coverage. We spoke with guide publisher Guy de Bellefroid the director of the Fondation pour les Arts, to get all the details. The Guide (€8.50) is available now in most Brussels bookshops, and also in Tasty, Cook & Book and Leopold Café Presse.

The Bulletin welcomes Angela Oestmann and Patricia Raymond from the International Study Group, an association of mainly women of different nationalities living in and around Brussels who organise each month a lecture of a different topic, among other activities. Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, the ISG has published a book on Amazing Women, life stories of women from three different generations.

In our series on expat groups in Belgium – also broadcast on our community web radio – the Bulletin talks to Muriel Lowe, chairman of The Arts Society Brussels

Inside Magritte is an immersive art experience at La Boverie, Liège, consisting of 360° projections of the Belgian surrealist’s works. It’s a highly-accessible and fun way of exploring the beauty and symbolism of the artist’s universe. Until 6 March.

Would you care to have a kinky conversation with several attractive young women? How about licking the screen of an iPad? Or perhaps you prefer to spin around a dance floor, staring deeply into your lover’s eyes, via your smartphone? It’s all possible at Swipe Right! Data, Dating, Desire. The exhibition is being staged at iMal, the art centre for digital cultures and technology in Molenbeek.

Two exhibitions opened this week in Brussels that plunge visitors into the history of women dubbed witches. Within walking distance of each other, ULB’s show Witches is staged in the Vanderborght building, while KBR library’s museum hosts Witches: Avant la lettre.

A climate march is planned in Brussels this Sunday lunchtime to coincide with the COP26 conference in Glasgow. Larry Moffett from Rise for Climate Belgium tells us what to expect

The mythical and mystical world of the Orient Express train reveals its opulent secrets in a major exhibition at Train World in Schaerbeek. Celebrating the European year of rail and Belgium’s pioneering role in railways around the world, the Europalia Trains & Tracks arts festival exhibition Orient-Express runs until 17 April. Thierry Denuit, head of Train World & Heritage at the SNCB, tells all.

An exhibition honouring Aborigine art has opened for the first time at Brussels’ Art & History Museum. Running until 29 May, Before Time Began was first staged at the Opale Fondation in Lens, Switzerland, and includes some 100 works from this previous show.

Brexit happened because there is no European Saturday Night Live. Picture it: A shared satire covering the ins and outs of the most diverse political machinery in the world would go a long way to introducing the masses to what the hell the EU is all about. Countries that are not laughing together are not learning together, and that’s why a group of journalists and improv actors have created The Schuman Show, a live comedy send-up of EU people and politics.

The role of the arts during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated large parts of Europe, lies at the heart of an international exhibition at the House of European History.
The exhibition Bellum et Artes (War and Art) demonstrates how the warring parties used the arts as a propaganda tool and to show off their power. In the midst of a brutal war that cost millions of lives, works of art became ambassadors of peace. Bellum et Artes is part of a Europe-wide cooperation involving a dozen institutions from seven countries. The project is led by the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) and the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD).
Curator Jitka Mlsova describes what the visitor will experience.
https://historia.europa.eu/en/exhibitions-events/temporary-exhibitions
Through 12 January 2025

With the quintessentially London play Vincent River, Brussels’ new English theatre, The Bridge, takes the stage for the first time

After more than 50 years focusing on an individual country, the prestigious arts biennial Europalia turns its attention to the singular theme of the railway in its new edition Trains & Tracks.

It’s the capital’s flagship exhibition this autumn, showcasing some of David Hockney’s finest works over a career spanning six decades, including a recent series of sometimes controversial digital paintings that defiantly celebrated spring during the first lockdown in 2020.

The new movie La Civil by Teodora Ana Mihai saw the Belgian director heading to one of the most dangerous places on earth, where criminal cartels routinely kidnap average citizens

Writer and musician Leona Francombe was inspired to write The Universe in 3/4 Time after rescuing a piano abandoned in the street near her Brussels home, late one winter’s night. The resulting novel is a mystery story: a music-themed tale that travels back and forth between the present day and the period of occupation in 1940s Belgium, Prague and the Pyrenees.  

The film premieres at Full Circle House this month, followed by a panel discussion

As part of an Autumn-long series of events commemorating 120 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and Belgium, the K-pop group Black Swan recently performed in Brussels. We caught up with the musical quartet who are breaking new ground with a multicultural line up featuring two Koreans, one Brazilian and one Senegalese-Belgian. https://brussels.korean-culture.org/en

Multidisciplinary is the key word for a lot of local productions over the last decade, with live classical music giving dance a new impetus, for instance, or video offers theatre companies more options to transport you to other worlds.

In our series on expat groups in Belgium – also broadcast on our web radio – the Bulletin talks to Dominic Newstead, who joined the church of St Paul’s in the summer of 2020

One of the world's most famous plays is performed in English on castle grounds just outside of Brussels this Thursday

At the crossroad of art, curatorial practices, architecture, graphics, typography and cartography, the Belgian pavilion at the Venice Biennale features UNESCO recognised giants from Belgium, Northern France and Spain, 15 feet tall and made of wicker, fabric and papier-mâché, dancing and twirling thanks to dedicated giant carriers. The collective The Petticoat Government, a group of multidisciplinary artists has created this year’s Belgian participation and members of the collective explain what they are up to.
https://wbarchitectures.be/en/news/Belgian-Pavilion-at-Venice-Biennale-2024-/1384/

It’s impossible to live in Brussels and miss the fact that it is a city that delights in its comic book heroes. Far from the impossible superheroes of Marvel, Belgium’s comics characters have their feet firmly planted on the ground, whether as intrepid boy journalists or simple physicists who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. For an entire month, these two characters and many, many more will be in the spotlight during the Brussels Comic Strip Festival. Usually a three-day festival, this is the second year in a row that corona has thrown a spanning in the works. This year, organiser Visit Brussels chose to spread it out over several weeks – which is no bad thing, says Micha Kapetanovic.

Ohana Nkulufa is on a mission to make art more accessible. The owner of art financing service LenArt has organised The Art Hunt to give art lovers the chance to win one of 10 original pieces that are hidden in stores and businesses in the centre of Brussels. Clues are being released before the hunt to help participants track down the works.

The Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF) is back with the widest possible gamut of films from around the world along with a series of get-togethers with illustrious guests, master classes, workshops and the easy conviviality under the big top that the festival is famous for. Co-director Céline Masset tells us what to expect. www.briff.be/en/