Senate opens up to public to explore future of democracy

The Senate is opening its doors to the public throughout October with an artistic project that crosses Belgium's regional and linguistic boundaries and addresses the issue of how we live together.

Superdemocracy is a partnership between three cultural institutions - Bozar in Brussels, BPS22 in Charleroi and M HKA in Antwerp. In 15 of the Senate's rooms, an artist from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and an artist from the Flemish Community come together with a third artist from another community to address 11 different topics ranging from well-being and solidarity to diversity, mobility and radicalisation.

"We received an invitation from the Senate to put an exhibition together that would prompt the question: What can we do to improve our democracy?" says M HKA director and curator Bart De Baere. "That's one of the goals of the exhibition, to tap into the energy of the people living in Belgium and try to awaken their civic engagement."

De Baere said the cultural link between Antwerp, Brussels and Charleroi (A-B-C) was well-established and carries a symbolic significance as it crosses the three main communities of Belgium.

In the same way, the Senate's function is a cross-community one. "The role of the Senate is fundamentally different now," says De Baere. "In Superdemocracy we remind ourselves that the Senate is now a place of reflection - the arena where the different communities in Belgium can have a dialogue."

Throughout the month there also will be four "Democracy Afternoons" on different days of the week, with conferences on the themes of the exhibition featuring specially invited guests.

Open to all

De Baere hopes Superdemocracy will be the start of more publicly accessible projects in the future.

"This is an exercise," he says. "The whole thing is a tryout, for the Senate and for us as cultural institutions, and we need to go back to basics. It's a simple and complex question: How do you build a community?"

"The most beautiful thing would be if the Belgian Senate would become as open as Bozar, but without becoming a cultural institution. It would become an open political institution, open for all the people to whom this house belongs, all the people of this country - and if both the members of parliament and the people could proudly enter through the front door."

The exhibition is open every day until 31 October. On weekdays, access is possible at 13.00, 14.30 and 16.00 upon prior registration - email superdemocratie@senate.be. At weekends the exhibition is freely accessible without reservation from 13.00-16.30 (last entry).

Superdemocracy, until 31 October at the Belgian Senate, Rue de Louvain 13,
Brussels