Today marks the one-year anniversary of the gruesome Brussels attacks, and we collectively hold the people whose lives were irreversibly affected in our thoughts. It’s self-evident that as a country, world and society, there’s so much work to do since such atrocities still happen on the daily. Even though Brussels was scarred on March 22 last year, today we’d like to shine a light on the beauty that can be found in the city, coming from its own people. As from March 31, our friends of the great ALICE Gallery are hosting a new exhibition, “BRUT?”, exploring the world of so-called ‘outsider art’ (art brut).

“BRUT?” is curated by Antoine Capet and David Lemoine of BrutPop, a French organisation dedicated to the promotion of experimental music and visual arts for an audience of people with autism or physical or mental health disability. Brutpop is collaborating with Belgian artistic lab “La S Grand Atelier” to present the WHAT IS IT? festival in Brussels. As from March 30, the WHAT IS IT? festival will be organising exhibitions, live concerts, public meetings and workshops focusing on the contemporary scene of outsider art. WHAT IS IT? seeks to blur boundaries between art and disability. It’s a great initiative and you should check out the full schedule here.

At ALICE you’ll be able to explore the art of Richard Bawin, Marie Bodson, Enzo Schott and many more plus there will be a round table panel on March 31. It doesn’t end there. Alice and Raphaël of ALICE also invite you to visit their other baby: at MIMA – which is celebrating its first year this month, and what a delightful success it’s been – you’ll be able to enrol in (French-spoken) art and collage workshops on Saturday April 1 and Sunday April 2. To reserve a spot and to get more practical info, contact info@mimamuseum.eu. Initiatives like this are what make Brussels a rich, diverse and interesting place to work and live in and you can call me dewy-eyed but it’s a great way to affect change for the better.

BRUT?
An exhibition curated by Antoine Capet and David Lemoine
for the WHAT IS IT? festival

Round table: March 31 at 3 PM
Vernissage: March 31 at 6 PM
Exhibition: March 31 – April 28
More info here

ALICE Gallery
Rue de Pays de Liège 4
1000 Brussels

Atelier au MIMA animé par BrutPop et La S Grand Atelier
Workshop 1: April 1 from 2 – 6 PM
Workshop 2: April 2 from 2 – 6 PM
More info here

MIMA
Quai du Hainaut 39-41
1080 Brussels

Images: La S Grand Atelier