What’s on this week: 26 June to 2 July

The popular Guinguette summer bars are slowly opening back up in Brussels parks. Henri opened over in Georges Henri Park (Woluwé-Saint-Lambert) last week, and Fabiola in King Baudouin Park (Jette) just this week. They’re both open from noon, with food served from 17.00. (We’re still waiting for the other two, in Cambre and Cinquantenaire.)

The Music Village jazz club re-opens on 1 July, splitting its nights into two concert sets to limit the number of people in the seats. See the fun and energetic Morning Call Jazz Band, who mix a big band sound with a healthy dose of barbershop quartet. 1-2 July, Rue des Pierres 50

Cinemas are also allowed to re-open on 1 July, and Belgian film archive Cinematek isn’t wasting any time getting started. It is celebrating its opening night with two classic films by ground-breaking Belgian directors: Dust (1985) by Marion Hansel and News from Home (1976) by Chantal Akerman. The first, in English and based on JM Coetzee’s tense family drama In the Heart of the Country, was the first Belgian film to ever win a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The second is an intimate portrait of both New York City and the Akerman’s relationship with her mother. Dust 1-2 July, News from Home 1-5 July, Rue Ravenstein 3

Ceramic art usually brings to mind elegant vases and bowls, but that’s not what Eileen Cohen Sussholz is after. Her work is altogether modern and rather Warholian, with everyday objects that seem to melt together, making you question their relationship to each other, and to your own life. She was inspired by vanitas still lifes for the exhibition Omnia Vanitas, perfectly encapsulating the genre’s theme of the transience of life as hair dryers and snorkels meet skulls and bones. Until 26 November, Erasmus House, Rue de Formanoir 31 (Anderlecht)

Les Festivals de Wallonie, dedicated to classical music in the broadest sense of the term, is going digital this year. So the four festivals that make up the event, including Brussels’ Musiq3, are all serving up their daring and diverse programmes online. You’ll get even more than usual, with interviews with musicians and documentaries about the historical halls in which they are playing. 26 June to 13 August

Venture over to the SB34 artist studios for the cool exhibition experience Rotator. Dutch artists Boris Steiner and Ricardo van Eyk have created a dual world that only two people at a time are allowed into. It’s moving and breathing, just like you are because, as Steiner says, are should do “something other than sit on its ass in a museum”. You don’t have to reserve a spot, but you do have to wear a facemask. 25-28 June, then every Sunday until 19 July, 34 Rue Saint-Bernard 34 (Saint-Gilles)

Wolubilis culture centre has loads of summer workshops for kids and adults alike – just the thing if you’re spending holidays in Belgium rather than traveling abroad this summer. Most of them have you getting creative and take place over several days. A few upcoming options are yoga classes, jewellery making and a couture and fashion show for kids six to 12. All workshops are given in French and require advance reservation. Until 28 August, Cours Paul-Henri Spaak 1 (Woluwe-Saint-Lambert)

Repairing the Future is the apt title for Bozar’s new series of interviews with 10 writers and thinkers from around the world. Climate change, Covid-19 and Black Lies Matter have come together in an explosive way this year, and Bozar wants to discuss how we can use that momentum to face global problems head on. Starting off the series on 1 July is Italian author Paolo Giordano. Known for his book The Solitude of Prime Numbers, he has just published How Contagion Works, the first book on the corona crisis. The interviews are done remotely from Bozar’s stage ahead of time, so, while languages vary, all come with subtitles in French and Dutch. 1 July to 9 September

Passa Porta launches a new lunchtime series, Close Reading, this week with Célestina Jorge Vindes, owner of the Pépite Blues bookshop. Close Reading sessions find local personalities reading texts aloud and inviting comments from the audience. Casual and friendly, Close Readings will take place on Passa Porta’s terrace, weather permitting. Languages vary, this one is in French. 2 July 12.30-13.30, Rue Antoine Dansaert 46

The Brussels Conservatory’s lunchtime concert series Midis-Minemes is not abandoning us this summer. While only half the planned concerts will be staged, the upbeat, casual atmosphere remains. Only Belgian musicians will take the stage this year, and tickets must be purchased online in advance. Concerts will only cost you a fiver. 1 July to 27 August 12.30, Rue de la Régence 30

Order now: While the American Club will be forgoing its Independence Day celebration this 4 July, it is giving you the chance to enjoy the feast at home. Party boxes can be ordered by members and non-members, and they are full of American goodness. American club member Alex Joseph just happens to be the chef at Rouge Tomate, and he is whipping up a three-course meal that includes buttermilk fried chicken wings, “haute” dogs, BBQ pork ribs, potato salad and, naturally, apple pie. And that’s just part of the menu. The box also comes with some sparklers and other surprises. Order before 17.00 on 3 July.

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

It’s a fact: We are more inclined to eat food that looks good, even though this might not have anything to do with how it tastes or its nutritional value. In the exhibition Serial Eater, CID center for innovation and design at Grand-Hornu delves into the design of food and how it influences our behaviour. It also looks at the future: We will have to change our eating habits if we want to keep feeding the world 30 years from now. But are we ready for change? Until 29 November, Rue Sainte-Louise 82, Hornu (Boussu)

Photos, from top: Courtesy Guinguette/Facebook; ©Burp/Erasmus House; courtesy Wolubilis; ©Nicolas Leleu; ©Nathan Ceddia/CID