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The Spiral Machine
19.06.2026 - 10.07.2026
MULTIPLEXE takes over the Espace Vanhomwegen for a long-term performance, conceived as an exhibition in the making. Here, nothing is set in stone: the institution unfolds in public, lays bare its own conditions of production, and transforms every gesture into a visible act. The exhibition becomes a continuous, evolving process, where decisions, creations and interactions form a collective choreography driven by actors from Brussels’ cultural scene. What is on display is not only the artwork, but also a set of material, organisational and human realities that make it possible.
The space is structured like a veritable institutional machinery. The exhibition unfolds across an exhibition hall, a storage area, a workbench, a stock of materials, a list of names, as well as essential functions (kitchen, toilets, courtyard, entrance door) integrated into the installation. A make-up table completes this ensemble, brought into use during the performative moments that are the daily vernissages. These elements are not decorative: they constitute the visible organs of a functioning institution.
MULTIPLEXE’s activation relies on multidisciplinary teams working in shifts. They carry out all the necessary tasks: production of the artworks, scenography, communication, maintenance and reception. Every action is both functional and performative, designed to be understood by both other team members and the public. Each day begins with a meeting to set out the areas of focus and allocate tasks. At midday, a communal meal interrupts the work. At the end of the day, preparations for the openings give rise to new forms of staging. Even during these opening events, the work continues, adapting to the demands of hospitality, mediation and conviviality.
This working process is central: it is the very essence of the project. The institutional machinery is constantly being constructed, activated and transformed. It invites others to take part, to experiment, to reflect and to create. By highlighting its own limitations and those of the system it questions, MULTIPLEXE seeks to formulate a situated, concrete and critical proposal. By re-enacting the stages of exhibition production—design, production, communication, and hosting—the project questions Brussels’ institutional cultural offering. It highlights its shortcomings and attempts to address them in a concrete way. Whereas certain institutions rely on cumbersome, opaque and highly hierarchical structures, MULTIPLEXE offers a modest, transparent and collective alternative.
The framework adopted is deliberately offbeat, at times clownish, yet imbued with a sense of drama. This shift allows us to highlight problematic areas whilst opening up joyful possibilities. By exaggerating certain institutional codes, the project makes them visible and, in doing so, transformable. The project thus tackles several tensions: the issue of resources, the star system, the opacity of operations, but also the institutional architecture as a social and cultural filter. In response, MULTIPLEXE is a collective intelligence, reducing costs without compromising standards, and proposing a model where artistic production is shared, accessible and open. Against the current backdrop of a cultural crisis in Belgium, marked by economic tensions, issues of access and a re-evaluation of institutional models, MULTIPLEXE positions itself as a space for experimentation. It is not merely a matter of criticism, but of producing an alternative—however fragile it may be—capable of opening up new ways of institutionalising.
Official opening : Thursday 18.06.2026 / 17:00 - 21:00
Opening hours during activation weeks :
From Monday, June 22 to Friday, June 26, from 18:00 to 20:00
From Monday, July 6 to July 10, from 18:00 to 20:00
Opening hours during the week-ends :
June 21, June 28, and July 5, from 15:00 to 18:00
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Espace Vanhomwegen
Rue de Russie 31
1060 Saint-Gilles
Built with Berta.me
