What’s on this week: 16 to 22 October

The annual edition of Museum Night Fever promises a wild night on Saturday with some 28 museums across the city opening their doors late for the occasion, while nightlife venues C12 and Botanique host two afterparties. The programme designed to entice a younger audience into the capital’s cultural institutions features cabaret, live tattoo performances, improvisation, videomapping and dance, traditional music, dystopian soundscapes and and funky rumba rhythms. A shuttle bus conveniently helps you get from one venue to the other. 17 October 19.00-1.00, across Brussels

Edith Dekyndt x Cristóbal Balenciaga: The Fabric Decides completes Bozar’s autumn/winter exhibition by creating a unique dialogue between contemporary art and haute couture. The Belgian visual artist transforms ordinary material presents works that resonate with Balenciaga’s rarely seen archives. It is a show offering a poetic reflection on the present through gestures, skills and forms in constant mutation, inviting visitors to discover this intimate and singular encounter up close. Until 31 January, Rue Ravenstein 23

How familiar are you with Inuit art? Beyond sculpture, Europe is largely unaware that communities in the northern regions of Canada boast a remarkable body of graphic work. Inuit – Impressions of the Canadian Far North brings together nearly 250 works—sculptures, drawings, and, above all, prints— spanning some 70 years of artistic creation at the Art & History Museum. Themes such as shamanism, mythology, the polar night, Arctic wildlife and relationships with the land sit alongside contemporary issues: social transformation, gender relations, and climate change. 16 October to 18 April, Cinquantenaire Park 10

The Natural Sciences museum’s new exhibition ANIMAZING encourages all ages to look at the living world with fresh eyes. “Sleeping upright, changing colour with the seasons, running like a marathon champion, or seeing in every direction at once,” says the institution of its far-reaching show exploring the animal world through captivating stories. Some 78 creatures reveal their extraordinary abilities and remarkable survival strategies, from the sea slug that can photosynthesise to the acrobatic spider monkey, every species has an amazing story to tell. Ages 8 and up. 16 October to 29 August, Rue Vautier 29

Ostend painter, illustrator and draughtsman Léon Spilliaert is at the centre of a new exhibition exploring Belgian modern and contemporary art at Villa Empain. Soleil Noir features more than 30 works by the self-taught artist in dialogue with his contemporaries as well as a later generation of artists who they influenced. Via themes that characterise his oeuvre, from self-portrait, the nude, and melancholy, to landscape and the North Sea, a distinctive artistic tradition in Belgium continues to reverberate today. On the boundaries of symbolism, expressionism and surrealist, Spillaert’s practice inspired towering contemporary artists such as Luc Tuymans, Thierry De Cordier, Hans Op de Beeck and Michaël Borremans. 22 October to 19 March, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 67 (Ixelles)

Brussels EU-bubble professional turned stand-up comedian, Charlie Stevens (pictured), performs his debut one-hour solo comedy Unseasoned Chicken Breast after eight years delivering stand-up across the Belgian capital and Europe at large. This new comedy is a personal show about the cost of building a life abroad, recounted through the prism of his own family. 20 October 20.30 (doors open 19.30), Rue Père Eudore Devroye 12 (Etterbeek)

The Design Museum Brussels turns its gaze to Central Europe with the new exhibition Identita – The Story of Czech Graphic Design. Dedicated to over a century of graphic design, it explores the role of the art form in shaping a country’s identity via original works and reproductions, while reflecting the profound political, social and cultural transformations that have marked its history. 16 October to 7 March 7, Place de la Belgique (Laeken)

Bozar’s cinema season launches with a focus on Argentinian collective El Pampero Cine. Founded in 2002, it broke new ground in virtually every aspect of filmmaking. Discover the work of directors Mariano Llinás, Alejo Moguillansky, Laura Citarella and Agustín Mendilaharzu in powerful films such as La Flor (2018), Trenque Lauquen (2022), La Vendedora de Fósforos (2017), Clementina (2022) and Historias Extraordinarias (2008). 20-23 October, Rue Ravenstein 23

Bengali cultural and religious festival Durga Puja is celebrated in Brussels with daily Anjali and puja rituals, live cultural performances - music, dance, recitation - and free bhog (a traditional blessed vegetarian meal) for all visitors. Free entrance; everyone welcome. It is organised by the local Bengali community organisation Sammelani Bangla Durgotshab. 17–19 October, Chaussée de Wavre 1236 (Auderghem)

The popular travelling Asian extravaganza returns this weekend for a new autumn edition, Welcome to Heroes World Featuring Made in Asia at Brussels Expo. It’s an opportunity to meet stars and artists, pick up merchandise, take on interactive challenges and dive into a world of sci-fi, fantasy, comics and manga. Among the theatrical stars waiting to meet fans are Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort in Harry Potter), James Lafferty (One Tree Hill), Michael Weatherly (NCIS), Cote de Pablo (NCIS), Io Sakisaka (Mangaka of Ao Haru Ride) and a bevy of francophone voice over actors. The Asian street food alley is also a gourmet treat for many. 17-18 October, Place de la Belgique 1 (Laeken)

Brussels choir BachWerk stages a concert of German romantic music by Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms on Sunday evening. The internationally renowned guitarist Emma Wills performs Mendelssohn's Venetianisches Gondellied and Schumann's Reverie, while the choir introduces listeners to the seasons of the year with Lieder conducted by Kateřina Blížkovská. 18 December 18.00, Eglise Sainte-Anne, Chaussée de Tervuren 89 (Auderghem)

Book now Charity gala concert A Voice from Ireland celebrates the enduring ties between the Emerald Isle and Europe at an exclusive evening of music at Bozar. Internationally acclaimed Irish tenor Emmet Cahill performs alongside renowned uilleann piper Mark Redmond, the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brussels Philharmonic Chorus under the direction of David Navarro-Turres. Singing familiar Irish melodies, as well as extracts from operas and musicals on themes of exile, separation, resilience and hope, the charity concert is organised by the Association Femmes d'Europe and is part of the Official Programme of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.  27 October 20.00-22.00, Rue Ravenstein 23

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

One of the season’s highly anticipated exhibitions is Marc Chagall: Matières at the CAP in Mons. Through the lens of materials, craftsmanship and technique, the show offers a fresh perspective on the creative output of this major 20th-century artist. Featuring over 200 artworks and objects, in addition to Chagall’s iconic paintings, it displays prints, sculptures, ceramics, tapestries, painted glass, ballet costumes and stage set designs. Tools, working materials, and preparatory studies, along with archival documents take visitors into the heart of the artist’s creative process. 10 October to 14 February, Rue Neuve 8, Mons

What if one of the greatest stories of Impressionism was also written in Belgium? This is the premise of the new exhibition at Liège’s La Boverie, L'impressionnisme, une histoire belge. The art museum’s 10th anniversary celebrations roll on with this major show bringing together nearly 150 masterpieces from prestigious Belgian and international collections. French masters enter into dialogue with the Belgian avant-garde to offer an ambitious yet accessible new perspective on the decisive role Belgium played in the rise of the European avant-garde. Until 29 March, Parc de la Boverie 3, Liège

A cult figure in post-war European art, Ana Lupus presents the final exhibition of her seven-decade career, On Ritual Time & SPATARU, at SMAK in Ghent. The 86-year-old Romanian has conceived the show as a deeply personal artistic testament as a reflection on her work, on memory and resistance and ultimately on what an artist chooses to leave behind. largely working outside the dominant Western art-historical narrative, she developed a radical practice spanning textile, installation, performance and collective action. It is presented alongside sculptor, painter, draughtsman and teacher S P A T A R U (Mircea Spataru), with whom Lupas maintained a personal and artistic dialogue. Until 21 February, Jan Hoetplein 1, Ghent

Discover more upcoming events at The Bulletin's events page.

Photos: (main image) MNF 2025 Old Masters Museum ©Jonas Polet; Bozar Cinema, El Pampero: ©Sapristi SRL; Léon Spilliaert Digue, 1907, private collection; ©Archives Marc et Ida Chagall, Paris; Impressionnisme La Boverie ©Tempora-dbcreation; ©Ana Lupas Humid Installation