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What’s on this week: 26 February to 4 March

17:46 25/02/2021
Our pick of Belgium’s best activities – online and off – for the coming week

Belgium’s big building and renovation fair has taken to the interwebs. Batibouw promises an experience as close to the real thing as possible: Visitors complete a profile and get their own virtual host who will lead them to the businesses and products they are looking for. Consultations with professionals can even be immediately arranged via video chat to get more information. Visit the website to plan ahead a little, which will be invaluable. 27 February to 7 March

Theatre National hosts a talk on the Anthropocene, a name proposed for the geological epoch that has led to the climate crisis. Anthropocène, L’autre Bombe H? was meant as a companion discussion to the stage performance La Bombe Humaine, which of course had to be cancelled, but an audio version of it can be found here. (In French) 27 February 14.00-16.00

The Mars centre for the performing arts in Mons presents La Semaine de la voix – The Week of the Voice – online. A free concert every day puts the spotlight on vocals, whether opera, jazz or avant-garde. The livestreamed concerts will be available to view after the festival. 1-6 March

The Jiraan ensemble

Ghent concert hall Handelsbeurs continues its streaming series with Jiraan, an ensemble of 12 Western, Arabic and Turkish musicians, brought together by Syrian violinist Shalan Alhamwy. 27 February 20.15

Full Circle international club hosts the talk Can Dictatorships be EU Members? by Oxford professor and historian Timothy Garton Ash. He will discuss ways in which member states violate EU rules and what can be done about it. 4 March 17.00-18.30

FestiVita! is a new festival of old music. Planned since 2019, it is being launched despite corona, albeit online. This ‘edition zero’ is a celebration of 150 years of the Bach dynasty with a free concert by Vox Luminis, followed by a documentary about the musicians and the Bach family. Complete the evening with special dinner, delivered to your door. 5 March 20.00

Film still from Lieve

The film school graduates of today are the Dardenne Brothers of tomorrow; meet them at the Videoline Festival, featuring short films by Brussels-based emerging artists. Until 28 February

Head to Berchem-Sainte-Agathe to solve the murder of the commune’s namesake together with up to three friends or family members. Who Killed Agathe? is a new murder mystery game organised by the non-profit NRV that takes place in the Wilder forest. What happens if you don’t solve the murder in the allotted 90 minutes? Then the bomb goes off in the backpack you are carrying. So yeah, try to pay attention. (In French & Dutch)

A new walking tour in Belgium’s main cities gets you visiting both famous and lesser-known sites as well as taking you to four foodie stops that are  open for business  – whether restaurants, chocolate shops or coffee houses. The idea is to support the food service industry during this most difficult of times.

Sign up now: SoliDialogues is a pan-European conversation about solidarity and new forms of cohesion. Co-sponsored by the Brussels branch of the Goethe Institute, it will bring you together with five strangers in virtual dialogue rooms to rap about unity in times of populism. (In English) 19-20 March

Margaret Harrison's 'Good Enough to Eat'

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

The British artist Margaret Harrison makes her Belgian debut at BPS22, the influential art museum in Charleroi. A pioneering figure in the feminist art movement for more than 50 years, Harrison challenges notions of social class and gender. This exhibition, Danser sur les missiles, showcases the diversity of Harrison’s work, including representations of women in society, via installations, paintings, drawings and texts. Until 23 May

Photos, from top: ©Peps Photography; courtesy Jiraan; still from Lieve by Vincent Groos, courtesy kortfilm.be; ©Margaret Harrison, ‘Good Enough to Eat (1971), photo by Nicolas Brasseur

 

Written by Lisa Bradshaw