Taking Up the Torch

KW: (Kathleen Weyts) Last Spring it was announced that after 16 years, the Brussels galleries had decided to discontinue the Brussels Gallery Weekend (BGW). As independent curators, why did you feel compelled to take up the initiative and revive the traditional opening of the gallery season? And why an art week rather than an art weekend?

RV: (Laure Decock & Evelyn Simons) We learned about the BGW’s cancellation during our visit to Art Brussels this year. We looked at each other and immediately felt the exciting buzz of new possibilities. Brussels is very dear to us both, as we have been working in the art field both here and abroad for the past 10 years, and we were both at a point in our careers where there was room for a new adventure.

We have different but complementary backgrounds. Together, we have experience working with galleries, private foundations and public institutions, working on strategy, development, partnerships and fundraising, as well as curating and writing on contemporary art. We’re excited to bundle our ambitions, network and expertise across these different domains to create a new platform that celebrates Brussels’ contemporary art scene. We want to bring a sense of freshness yet resonate with established art audiences as well as with a new generation of creative talent and art enthusiasts in Belgium and internationally.

We’re opting for RendezVous – Brussels Art Week to connect the gallery scene to the institutional field and artist-run initiatives. For our ambitions in 2025, we’ll definitely need a week, not just a weekend.

KW: Was it very difficult to convince the galleries to participate? And can you tell us something about the title ‘RendezVous’?

RV: We had some ideas in mind and definitely wanted a catchy name to brand our new initiative. The idea of ‘rendezvous’ relates well to the word-of-mouth way of staying updated on events in town. It also playfully alludes to Brussels’ former glamour, to secrecy and intimacy. This is an atmosphere we wanted to incorporate into our project. So far, everyone is enthusiastic about the new identity!

KW: This year you’ve decided to go for a ‘soft launch’ – what does that entail?

RV: It all went very fast. After the cancellation of BGW 2024, which only happened at the end of April, we spoke with as many people as possible. We formally positioned ourselves in May, already supported by a decent list of Brussels’ galleries such as rodolphe janssen, Xavier Hufkens, Mendes Wood, Baronian, Meessen, Sorry We’re Closed, Stems Gallery, LMNO, Harlan Levey Projects, Gauli Zitter … Initially, we wanted to focus on 2025 because it seemed impossible to organise everything in less than four months, including the summer. In the end, however, we’re doing the impossible. We felt it was crucial not to lose momentum in the international art calendar. This year, we focused on reuniting the gallery community by streamlining their activities and organising various gatherings. We set up a PR campaign for all 63 exhibitions and developed a new brand identity with graphic designer Lisbeth Antoine, typographers Quentin Lamouroux and Simon Bouvier, and photographer Sander Muylaert.

Our ambitions for 2025 will be more diversified, as we also want to initiate discursive programming, curate events and involve other actors from the art scene. That’s why this year is considered a ‘soft launch’.

KW: With over 50 participating galleries, including some major international and established names, along with smaller ones, how do you ensure that everyone receives attention, not just the big players?

RV: We propose an itinerary for our audience by dividing the event geographically into different focus days: Midtown (Sablon & Forest) on Friday; Downtown (Centre & Molenbeek) on Saturday; and Uptown (Ixelles) on Sunday. The participating galleries have organised their discursive events accordingly and it’s mostly the smaller galleries that are hosting artist talks, gallery tours and performances, thus generating extra visibility in our events programme. For our press campaign, we are collaborating with Club Paradis, and we make sure to highlight the emerging voices and new galleries that have chosen Brussels to install themselves.

KW: What impact do you expect an event like RendezVous to have? Does Brussels need another art week like Art Brussels?

RV: Our ambition with RendezVous is to energise the Brussels art scene and generate a collective momentum to attract national and international visitors: art enthusiasts but also art journalists, curators, art professionals and collectors. The plan is to work on an elaborate visitor programme for next year, to generate impact by building bridges and bringing people together in a way that is relevant to everyone. We are already talking to various embassies to put these programmes together and will have some international ‘ambassadors’ with whom we will create curated itineraries.
Art Brussels is the other important moment in the Brussels art calendar: it’s an established art fair that generates a lot of traction and visitors. But gallerists, artists and other art professionals are eager to have a second momentum. It breaks the routine; it’s a collective celebration of the new artistic season, and it attracts important international artists to show in Brussels.

KW: What do you think makes the Brussels art scene special or different from other cities?

RV: Brussels is a peculiar city: it’s incredibly central and relatively small in scale compared to other European capitals. Its art scene is characterised by a fruitful hybridity: both young artists as well as established collectors call it their home. As a result, there are fantastic institutions, galleries, private foundations and artist-run spaces. But most importantly, it’s not pretentious. Maybe it’s the size, or the Belgian culture, but there is a good sense of community that makes it a friendly art scene. That spirit is essential for us. It’s one of the reasons why we wanted to start with RendezVous in the first place.