Tired of the cold and grey weather? Be transported to warmer shores with an intense experience of the rich culture of South-Eastern Europe at Bozar. Alternatively, explore one of the oldest and most prestigious art fairs in the world.
Arts, music and culture
SEE festival, Bozar, until Saturday 28 January
This four-day festival plunges you into the rich culture of South-Eastern Europe with a programme that features music, discussions and cinema devoted to the contemporary cultures of the region, "off the beaten track and away from clichés."
Credit: Bozar
The festival invites attendees to look beyond the folklore and caricatures normally associated with the region. Don't miss the screening of Children of Sarajevo by Aida Begić, an award-winning Bosnian director.
More information and tickets can be found here.
Courts Mais Trash, Riches-Claires, until Saturday 28 January
Courts Mais Trash returns to celebrate independent, underground, political, fun, gory, broke and offbeat cinema. From experimental or animated films to short clips and documentaries, the programme serves up a wide variety of national and international films in different formats.
Les démons de Dorothy by Alex Langlois
On Saturday, the last screening of the international competition will take place. Don't miss the legendary "After Trash Parties," including Karaoke Friday, and the closing concert of Bérenger 2000 & DJ Céleri Rave on Saturday.
More information and tickets can be found here.
PhotoBrussels Festival, various locations, until 26 February
The Belgian capital will become a photography hub for a whole month. The seventh edition of the PhotoBrussels Festival will feature 35 photography exhibitions, allowing more than 200 artists — from amateur to professionals of contemporary photography — to exhibit their work in over 30 locations.
Credit: Hangar
Some exhibitions, like Mirror of Self at the Hangar, combine the work of several artists. In this collective presentation, 23 artists question and confront themselves. The festival also offers an interesting programme of exhibitions, workshops, conferences and guided tours.
More information can be found here.
Out and about
BRAFA Arts fair, Brussels Expo at Heysel plateau, from Sunday 29 January
BRAFA, one of the oldest and most prestigious art fairs in the world, returns to Brussels this weekend for its 68th edition. Renowned for the quality of the galleries ranging from Antiquity to modern and contemporary art and design, it is considered to be a reliable barometer of the art market. More than 10,000 artworks dating from Antiquity to the present day will be on show.
BRAFA Art Fair 2022. Credit: Fabrice Debatty
For this 2023 edition, the fair will put the Art Nouveau movement in the spotlight, in line with Brussels' initiative to celebrate the movement this year, which will see a number of galleries specialising in this field present exceptional Art Nouveau pieces.
More information and tickets can be found here.
Jewish Museum of Belgium, Rue des Minimes
Friday 27 January is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the annual day of commemoration for the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. One way to mark the day is to visit the Jewish Museum of Belgium, which introduces Jewish history, religion and culture while encouraging dialogue and open-mindedness.
Credit: Jewish Museum of Belgium
The current temporary exhibitions at the museum include 236 – Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy, an artistic perspective of the moment when 236 deportees jumped from the train that led them to extermination; the exhibition by Belgian painter Arié Mandelbaum, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants and 'Moroccan Women - Between Ethics and Aesthetics,' an in-house creation of the Centre de la Culture Judéo-Marocaine.
Get more information to plan your visit here.
Further afield
Poetry walks, Hasselt, Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 January
On the occasion of Poetry Week, which kicked off on Poetry Day (Thursday 26 January), the Hasselt Limburg Library is organising two poetry walks this weekend (28 and 29 January).
Credit: Uit in Vlaanderen
The 3km tour, led by experienced city guide Francis De Lauré, takes you along the most beautiful and scenic spots in Hasselt, along which Along the way, you will discover poems by several well-known Dutch-speaking poets. If you make the Saturday tour, Francis will even recite the poems in the Hessels.
Participation is free, but you must register in advance.
