Sublime still lifes in Antwerp. The best exhibitions in your own country

Beaufort

Nine coastal municipalities, until 3/11

The triennial art trail along the coast put eighteen artists to work, from De Panne to Knokke. Expect roundabout art, a brutalist watchtower and a playful intervention at the monument of Albert I.

Chantal Akerman

Bozar, Brussels, until 21/7

Bozar outlines Chantal Akerman’s atypical career: from her first films to the complex video installations that landed her in museums.

Histoire de ne pas rire

Bozar, Brussels, until 6/6

What’s there to laugh about? The story of three generations of Belgian surrealists.

Imagine! 100 years of international surrealism

KMSKB, Brussels, until 21/7

Slumber states and twilight zones: what surrealists have in common with symbolists.

James Ensor, inspired by Brussels

KBR, Brussels, until 2/6

How Ensor turned out to be a contrary artist in Brussels.

James Ensor, Maestro

Bozar, Brussels, until 23/6

Ensor’s fascination with the spectacle and staging.

Anni & Josef Albers

Villa Empain, Brussels, until 8/9

Anni Albers has been hailed as a pioneer of modernism, as her husband had been for some time. Villa Empain shows around 100 works from both, in a homely context.

Magritte-Folon

Magritte Museum, Brussels, until 21/7

How Jean-Michel Folon saw the light when he came to know Magritte’s work.

Jef Geys

Wiels, Vorst, until 19/5

Insight into a special, self-relativating art practice.

The devil – a life

Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels, until 11/5

Nick Cave’s debut as a visual artist, with 17 ceramic figures.

popcorn

Mima, Brussels, until 26/5

Colorful, slightly eccentric view of our society.

Passage

Jewish Museum, Brussels, until 1/9

Reflection on the idea of ​​transformation and how the spiritual merges with everyday life.

ReThinking collection

Africa Museum, Tervuren, until 29/9

Museum shows its own provenance research.

Futuromarennia

FeliX Art & Eco Museum, Drogenbos, until 8/9

From Kiev to Drogenbos: a look at historical futurism from Ukraine.

Louis Thevenet

Den Ast and Villa Servais, Halle, until 27/10

Halle celebrates Louis Thevenet, the Brabant fauvist who portrayed everyday life in interiors, landscapes and still lifes, with an ambitious exhibition.

Rebellious echoes

Gaasbeek Castle, until 3/11

The dream castle was renovated and the collection returned, in a new scenography. Contemporary works of art provide a sounding board for the rich history.

Jim Shaw

Muhka, Antwerp, until 19/5

How the everyday comes to haunt the universe of an American artist.

Jef Verheyen

KMSKA, Antwerp, until 18/8

Large-scale overview of the Antwerp modernist who searched for the finest nuances of light.

Dirk Braeckman

Fomu, Antwerp, until 19/1/2025

For the exhibition Real time Dirk Braeckman selected photos from the collection of the photography museum and appropriates collection items to create new work.

Re/sisters

Fomu, Antwerp until 18/8

Group exhibition exploring the relationship between gender and ecology in contemporary photography.

Willy Vanderperre

Momu, Antwerp until 4/8

It is not a retrospective, he says himself. A postcard to the future. The Antwerp Momu pays tribute to the contrarian photographer Willy Vanderperre.

Imagined opulence

Snijders-Rockoxhuis, Antwerp until 1/10.

Jan Davidsz. de Heem (Utrecht, 1606 – Antwerp, 1684) is one of the very best still life painters of the seventeenth century. The Snijders-Rockox House provides an overview.

Albert Einstein, a famous passenger

Red Star Line Museum, Antwerp until 26/5

Since 1920, Einstein has been celebrated worldwide as a brilliant scientist. The SS Belgenland, from the Red Star Line fleet, is his favorite means of transport.

Knights of the Golden Fleece

Hof van Busleyden, Mechelen, until 2/6

A myth unraveled, in a completely renovated city museum.

We are Europe

Cultural Center Mechelen, until 30/6

Lieve Blancquaert shares the photos and stories she collected during her journey through the EU member states.

Ball (dé)masqué

Emile Verhaeren Museum, Sint-Amands, until 2/6

The mask in art, from James Ensor to Jan Vercruysse.

Tarek Atoui

Smak, Ghent, until 25/8

Artist and composer creates ‘listening environments’ in the museum.

Wonder Chamber of Truth

Ghent University Museum (Gum), Ghent, until 21/4/2025

What is fake and what do we know with absolute certainty? And what is the role of science in this? The Eraser will find out.

Ghent lands

Stam, Ghent, until 29/9

The story of agricultural land in Ghent, from the thirteenth century to today.

Off comics

Museum Dr. Guislain, Ghent, until 23/6

How the comic strip colors outside the lines.

Coup de ville

Sint-Niklaas, various locations, until 19/5

This time the arts trail in Sint-Niklaas links artists to athletes.

Zulma, muse and manager

Roger Raveel Museum, Machelen-Zulte, until 5/5

The woman who guided Raveel’s artistry.

Raveel, the essence

Roger Raveel Museum, Machelen-Zulte, until 6/10

The museum has existed for 25 years and in this overview it probes the soul of the artist.

Leaps of faith

Z33, Hasselt, until 25/8

Art, like religion, is a leap into the deep: it is the motto of this exhibition.

By bike!

CCHA, Hasselt, until 5/5

How the cycling infrastructure gained wings through the construction of poetic, winding cycle bridges.

Dreaming of color

Villa Verbeelding, Hasselt, until 6/10

How the picture book became more diverse.

Antiquity in color

Gallo-Roman Museum, Tongeren, until 2/6

What Greek and Roman statues really looked like.

New capital

Be-Part, Waregem, until 18/5

What does the ideal capital look like? Photographer Nick Hannes went to investigate.

Bruges Triennial

Various locations in the city center, Bruges, until 1/9.

A tunnel, a funnel and a new tower: Triennial Bruges surprises with hidden stories and unsuspected places.

New collection presentation Permeke Museum

Permeke Museum, Jabbeke, until 3/11

After three years of renovation, the Permeke Museum is open to the public again. A new collection presentation shows the versatility of the painter and sculptor.

5+1 Paul Delvaux in dialogue

Ten Bogaerde, Koksijde, until 29/9

With work by Lysandre Begijn, Joëlle Dubois, Neoza Goffin, Liliane Vertessen and Shirley Villavicencio Pizango.

Arno. The show of life

Venetian Galleries, Ostend, until 21/5

Danny Willems on the heels of a rock phenomenon.

Ensor and the self-portrait

Ensorhuis, Ostend, until 16/6

Self-portraits were a constant in Ensor’s life.

Vive la social

Villa Volta, Ostend, until 9/21

Kamagurka and Herr Seele portrayed 30 Ostend residents as part of the Ensor Year.

Banks Violette

BPS22, Charleroi, until 5/5

Comeback of an enfant terrible of American art.

Rodin

Bam, Mons (and other locations in the city), until 18/8

Auguste Rodin learned the trade in workshops, including in Brussels. The recently reopened Bam in Mons traces its path in an exhibition that extends across the entire city.