Glean

Brussels Unpolished

Glean 1, Autumn 2023

Essay by Anna Smolak

Drawing from her own experience, curator Anna Smolak highlights various aspects of working in the arts as part of a practice of slow attention. Smolak, who was born in Poland and has a background of curating in Eastern Europe, makes a plea for alternative models of supporting and organising the arts in Brussels.

Why Brussels? It was not really a deliberate choice but rather the result of a combination of circumstances. Nevertheless, ideas often transcend the form we invent for them, and in my move to the city I was curious to explore the continuities and shifts between my present and past decisions and attitudes.

Late 2019 was hardly the most fortunate moment to relocate, as a global crisis soon followed in its many facets. In Poland, where I was born, the rapidly changing political climate affected al (…)

Sign in

New subscriber? Activate your account first.
Forgot your password? Reset your password here.

…or subscribe now

  • pay for 3 issues, get 1 FREE
  • access to all paid articles on the website
  • Glean (EN) appears in September, December, March and June

Subscribe now for only € 60/yr

We use cookies to remember if you logged in or if you’ve interacted with the newsletter subscription form.
Pages that have embedded media such as YouTube videos or Spotify players require third party cookies to function.