What does the word Brussels mean to you?
Brussels is incredibly diverse, so there’s no one answer. But I moved here to lead on setting up KANAL-Centre Pompidou, which will be one of the largest museums of Modern and contemporary art in Europe, slated to open in 2025. A thrilling challenge which captured my imagination. To me, for the years to come Brussels means KANAL.
What’s your first memory in Brussels?
June, 2009, Zaventem airport. We land in a Boeing 737 painted gold by Polish artist Paweł Althamer. It carried 160 people on board – Paweł’s neighbors and collaborators from Warsaw. They traveled the world dressed in golden ‘astronaut’ suits as part of his ‘Common Task’ project. We visited the Atomium, then the Grand Place, then Flagey… and got back to Poland in the evening. A surreal day. It was one of my first major productions.
Where are you most at home?
I have worked internationally for many years and lived in several countries and cities. Home is many places: it’s where my kids are.
What makes someone a real Bruxellois?
It is a city with many identities. The vast majority of the population is international. The lack of an obvious common denominator is what makes Brussels special.
Which personality personifies Brussels best?
It’s the city of Magritte. Nothing is as it seems.
Favorite place for breakfast?
La Clef d’Or at Place du Jeu de Balle if you want a real Brussels experience. It opens at 5am for the vendors of the Marolles flea market (and night clubbers looking for a last drink).
Where are the best shops?
The Dansaert area, close to KANAL, has been a hip shopping destination since the 1980s, when Stijl opened there, selling clothes by the ‘Antwerp Six’, including Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester. There are still many designer boutiques in the area, as well as great book shops such as Saint-Martin Bookshop (located in a former Martin Margiela store) or Seymour Kassel Records. Close by, at Place Sainte-Catherine you can end your shopping frenzy at La Mer du Nord, an outdoor seafood bar, or in one of the many vibrant places, such as Nightshop or Au Laboureur, further down Rue de Flandre.
Guests at your dream dinner party in Brussels?
The amazing group of local and international Brussels-based women art professionals, who offered me the warmest and most enthusiastic welcome when I took on the position at KANAL.
Where do you go out?
Wherever it starts, a good party often ends up at the bar L’Archiduc, an art deco gem. In spring and summer Brussels parks have very pleasant outdoor cafes, which are great places for a lazy weekend afternoon.
Which artwork embodies Brussels best?
The performance in 1974 by Marcel Broodthaers in which he entered the Palais des Beaux-Arts with a camel. Surreal, critical, and humorous. That’s Brussels.
What’s the craziest thing you've heard or seen in the streets of Brussels?
The enormous scaffolding around the Palais de Justice has been there since 1984. I heard that the scaffolding even had to be renovated at some point.
What can you only do in Brussels?
Have a work meeting in three languages at once. A perfectly natural situation here.
What do you miss the most when you are away?
Wherever I am based, it is always the people.
Your top tip for visitors?
Brussels is a walkable city, full of hidden architectural treasures. The best way to discover them, is to put on your sneakers and walk around (always with an umbrella in your bag).
Bruxelles Gallery Weekend takes place from October 7 to 10, 2023 accross the city of Bruxelles.
Originally published on April 17, 2023.
All photos by Aliki Christoforou for Paris+ par Art Basel.