Culture beat - September 5

A talented trio of comics are hotfooting it from the UK to entertain Brussels crowds on September 14 The comedy circuit Stand Up Brussels kicks off its season with Brit Pat Cahill, Welshman Matt Rees and Canadian Sean Collins. Rising star Cahill won Chortle Best Newcomer in 2012. He mixes physical humour, gimmicks, lots of wordplay and even song. Rees has also been buzzing the comedy scene since 2012 with his blend of well-crafted gags and acerbic delivery. Collins meanwhile, from Vancouve,r has been performing in the UK for the past five years. Expect no-taboo material, and plenty of ad libs and audience participation. You have been warned! As usual, the Théâtre 140 venue in Schaerbeek offers a pre-show Indian buffet. 

Look no further than Place Dumon in Stockel for an authentic Thai experience on Sunday. Every year the country’s embassy in Brussels organises Essence of Thailand, a gastronomic and cultural event for all the family. This really is the place to sample the very best of Thai cooking as restaurants from across the whole of Belgium set up stands in the square. For the 8th edition, the event honours the Asian country’s four regions. The culinary specialities of each area range from spicy curries in the south and rice and noodle dishes in the centre. Among the cultural displays, expect painted parasols, fruit sculpture, Thai boxing, massage and traditional dance. There is even a tombola prize of a flight to Bangkok, offered by Thai Airways. Sawasdee.  

There’s original, there’s unusual, there’s eccentric and then there’s far-out. Berlin’s King Khan and the Shrines, led by indefatigable Canadian singer Arish Ahmad ‘King’ Khan, belong in the latter category. To describe their genre as garage, rock’n’roll or psychedelic wouldn’t do justice to a band celebrated for its stage antics (cheerleaders, fancy headgear, superhero costumes) as much as for its  hi-octane, soulful repertoire which effortlessly flirts with sugar-coated Nuggets-style melodies (the infectious Bite My Tongue). With support from local punk-rock stalwarts Nervous Shakes, the Magasin 4 will be ‘rock’n’roll central’ this Thursday.

The Belgian Brewers, one of the oldest professional associations in the world, is again hosting the Belgian Beer Weekend, a multi-faceted event dedicated to the art of brewing. For the 15th year, Brussels’ magnificent Grand’ Place will be transformed, from Friday until Sunday, into a giant open-air watering hole, a place for connoisseurs and novices alike to come together to sniff, sip, taste and generally show appreciation for this country’s rich and complex beer culture. Those out for a binger had best look elsewhere, for this weekend is a serious affair that includes a celebration of the patron saint of brewers, a solemn inauguration of the beer stands and a procession of historical brewery carts and beer wagons.

Outside Brussels

American sculptor Rachel Harrison picks up where 20th-century French artist Marcel Duchamp left off. Duchamp’s concept of ready-made art – art made of random objects – was central to the development of modernism. Harrison takes the ready-made even further. The New Yorker has been transforming found objects into bizarre and thought-provoking sculptures and installations since the 1990s. The S.M.A.K. exhibition, starting on Saturday, focuses on Harrison’s more recent work, specifically sculptures and drawings from her 2012 series The Help, large-scale installations from Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (2011) and photographs from Sunset Series (2000-2012).