Cultural Compass: Crystal Ship returns to Ostend, iconic photos and adventurous new expos
Every Sunday, Belga English picks its favourite events from the cultural agenda. This week: Ostend’s yearly Crystal Ship returns with an exciting international line-up, renowned photographer Steve McCurry brings his most famous photos together and three groundbreaking exhibitions open at Centrale in Brussels.
The Crystal Ship, 5 April-4 May, Ostend
The Crystal Ship festival has once again transformed Ostend into an open-air gallery, with 15 national and international artists creating striking street art throughout the city. Visitors can watch artists like Fanakapan (UK), JDL (Netherlands), Super A (Netherlands) and Lindert Steegen (Belgium) bring their visions to life during the lead up to the festival’s official opening. This year’s theme, Change, threads through every mural, reflecting transformation, growth and hope.
As Europe’s largest public art festival, The Crystal Ship has introduced over 80 large-scale murals to Ostend since its inception. For its ninth edition, the festival embraces fresh perspectives through an open call for emerging talents. Among the newcomers, Finnish artist Anetta Lukjanova merges digital imagery with traditional techniques, while Indonesian muralist Yessiow infuses walls with vibrant energy. Super A reimagines superheroes, adding a surreal twist to his work.
On 12 April, a grand vernissage will mark the completion of the new artworks, bringing all participating artists together for the official opening. With the latest additions, the festival’s sculpture route will feature around 90 pieces, reaffirming The Crystal Ship as a dynamic platform for storytelling, dialogue and artistic reinvention.
Steve McCurry: Icons, 3 April - 15 June, Grand Place, Brussels
A major retrospective of renowned photographer Steve McCurry opened in Brussels on Thursday, showcasing over 100 images from his 40-year career. ICONS features some of his most groundbreaking works, including the famous 1984 portrait of Sharbat Gula, the Afghan girl with piercing green eyes that appeared on National Geographic’s cover.
McCurry’s photography captures cultures, traditions and contemporary life while maintaining a human focus. His work spans global conflicts and disappearing ways of life, always highlighting the resilience and beauty of his subjects. The exhibition offers an immersive experience with videos of his travels and an audio guide narrated by McCurry himself, providing deeper insights into his work.
Previously shown in Lisbon, Madrid and Chicago, Icons now arrives at 5 Grand Place in Brussels.
Mitja Tušek & Bertille Bak: Wait and See, 10 April-24 August, Centrale, Brussels
Mitja Tušek’s work has been described as “unclassifiable”. His paintings navigate the boundaries between figuration, a form of art that depicts figures from life and abstraction. Drawing inspiration from European art history, ranging from the Middle Ages to Ensor and Rorschach tests, his layering techniques often reveal hidden portraits or landscapes.
His use of materials like wax, lead and interference pigments creates surfaces that absorb and reflect light, making images appear and disappear- a proverbial hide-and-see for viewers.
For this exhibition at Centrale, Tušek has invited Bertille Bak, a video artist whose work examines personal and collective narratives. Like Tušek’s penchant hiding in plain sight, Bak’s installations expose the hidden mechanisms of representation, playfully reminding viewers that “art is only make-believe.” Together, Tušek and Bak engage in a dialogue about perception, illusion and the constructed nature of images.
Caroline Le Méhauté and Isabella Soupart’s Tellus Project Installation and Dance, 10 April-24 August, Centrale, Brussels
In this installation-performance merging art and bio-art, the artists use polluted excavated soil to drive home the message that humanity’s environmental impact has contributed to 75 per cent of the planet’s soil being contaminated.
Le Méhauté explores phytoremediation, where plants absorb pollutants, framing creation as care and restoration. Soupart adds a physical dimension, with dancers shaping and transforming the earth in an endurance-driven performance.
Audiences immerse themselves in this evolving choreography, engaging freely with the work. Tellus Project reveals our connection to the land, making visible what is often ignored.
Maëlle Dufour Porteuses, 10 April-22 June, Centrale, Brussels
Maëlle Dufour explores humanity’s control over nature by focusing on Brussels’ buried river, the Senne. Once vital, the river was covered and turned into an underground sewer, reflecting urban efforts to control and conceal water.
As cities face climate challenges, projects like Max-en-Senne seek to restore rivers but raise social concerns like gentrification and access to water.
For her installation at Centrale, Dufour makes the Senne visible. Performers carry its water in sculptural vessels through Brussels, pouring it into a transparent tower. Porteuses revives the river in public consciousness, questioning our ties to water, memory and urban space.
(MOH)
#FlandersNewsService | © Maëlle Dufour, Capsules, 2023 © PHOTO ITHIER HELD
Ongoing events
Antwerp
Hans Op De Beeck: Nocturnal Journey, KMSKA
COMPASSION, MAS
Family Happiness, Red Star Line
Panamarenko: Infinite Imagination, KMKSA
Exhibitions at FOMU
Fashion and Interiors: A Gendered Affair, MoMu
Brussels
Berlinde De Bruyckere: Khorós, Bozar
When We See Us, Bozar
Ghent
Jules De Bruyckner, MSK
Michiel Hendryckx: Beauty as Resistance
Leuven
Grace Schwindt: A History of Touch, Museum M
Sigefride Bruna Hautman, Museum M
Ostend
Testerep, Venetian Galleries
Kortrijk
F**klore. Reinventing Tradition, Abby
Hasselt
Modelling Life, Z33
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