Focus on Brussels

With 38 galleries participating, an exhibition turned city trail, a blossoming off-programme and a brand new website – Brussels Gallery Weekend’s 13th edition is set to be full of innovations.

Collaborator of our sister gallery Spazio Nobile, Matthias Kohn, developed a project about home, nature, and hospitality. In essence, the concept is based on the idea of placing furniture, most often used in private interior settings, thus adapted for this type of use, and suggesting comfort, in exterior settings, where the impact of the piece on the respective surroundings is allowed to develop fully.

Now a year into his third curatorial “season” at La Verrière Hermès, TLmag caught up with French curator Guillaume Désanges to discuss the influences behind their latest exhibition ‘Musa Nuit’ – leading to a conversation about challenging dominant social and political structures and art’s role within them.

Xavier Hufkens is delighted to announce that his third gallery space will be inaugurated by artist Sterling Ruby as of June 18th with a new series of assemblages. The origins of these works can be traced back to the WIDW paintings that were first exhibited at the gallery in 2018.

Using wet plate collodion photographic processes from the mid-19th century, the intimate portraits taken by Italian photographer Silvano Magnone give shape and feeling to suspended time.

Archaeology is a pertinent source of knowledge on ancient cultures – its enquiry deeply embedded in the past. Brussels-based landscape architect Bas Smets switches this timeline around as he looks towards designing what he calls ‘the archaeology of the future’.

The vibrant colours of Bela Silva’s newest series give Spazio Nobile’s space a Spring awakening. Inspired by the artist’s recent trip to Mexico, the show celebrates Latin-American culture, its history and diverse craftsmanship in a cycle of drawings, ceramic works and a Codex Mexico.

With its expanded roster of over 100 international exhibitors, and offering a platform for both represented and unrepresented designers, the third edition of COLLECTIBLE is an exciting space of possibilities.

As January is upon us, so is the BRAFA Art Fair. With the regularity of a fine watch-making mechanism, the doyenne of generalist fairs returns mid-winter with the aim of combining the best of the art on offer in Brussels.

Known for his sleek sculptural objects and architectural elements made of natural and industrial materials, designer Noro Khachatryan, founder of studiokhachatryan, talks to TLmag about what constitutes an “object”, the need to be selective and making a habit of giving space to new ideas.


In a city about 9000 km away from where they’re based, Brussels art centre WIELS collaborates with the recently opened TANK Shanghai in an exhibition that reflects on the dualistic nature of Belgian contemporary art and culture.

Every year, the Biennale Interieur, together with magazines Knack Weekend and Le Vif Weekend, select a Belgian ‘designer of the year’. This year, the accolade goes to none other than Linde Freya Tangelder AKA destroyers / builders.