What’s on this week: 28 September to 4 October

The name is a mouthful, but don’t let that scare you off from four days and two nights of music and exhibitions focused on electronic and digital culture. Nuits Sonores & European Lab Brussels explores the link between art, society and technology with all sorts of cool activities, like the freaky sound art installation Tendencies; ‘The Loop’, a circuit of free performances spread across seven venues; and Bozar Takeover, where jazz meets electronica meets world music. There are also numerous debates, discussions and documentaries all focused on making sense of the political, economic, social and urban transformations we face in the 21st century. A majority of the programme is free. 27-30 September, Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23, and other venues across Brussels

To what extent do writers take their readers into account when they write? This question becomes all the more interesting when looking at fiction, and it’s the topic of Passa Porta’s first lecture of the new season, delivered by British-Hungarian novelist David Szalay (In All That Man Is) 2 October 20.00, Rue Antoine Dansaert 46

Catch the tail end (get it?) of Brussels Cocktail Week, a cheeky celebration of mixology in a beer-soaked country. Cocktail bars, drinks and guest bartenders are in the spotlight this weekend. Until 29 September, across Brussels

How art has fuelled revolution – and vice versa – of the last 50 years is the subject of the group exhibition Resistance. Don’t miss the related conferences and performances, including Guerrilla Girl. Vernissage on 26 September at 18.00. 27 September to 27 January, Centrale for Contemporary Art, Place Sainte-Catherine 44

This weekend, you can wander around the Space Pole, the collective name for the site of the Royal Meteorological Institute, the Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy in Uccle. During Open Door Days, you’ll see what the scientists are up to, visit the weather station and the climate centre, look through telescopes, carry out experiments and snack at food trucks. All of this is normally closed to the public, so this is your one chance to see Belgium’s weather and atmosphere broadcast and research hubs. Good for the whole family. 29-30 September, Avenue Circulaire (Uccle)

As Belgium nears the end of the centenary of the First World War, cultural venues are shifting their focus to the interwar period. BelVue Museum’s new exhibition Brussels: November ’18 looks at the local society following a devastating war that lasted four years. Until 6 January, Place des Palais 7

Terrified or hopeful about the upcoming midterm elections in the US? Though they don’t receive a fraction of the international press as a presidential election, they can sway the power structure in Congress, making things easy – or difficult – for the sitting president. Find out how Democrats Abroad see the upcoming vote during the debate The US Midterm Election: A View from Brussels. Free, but registration required. 28 September 17.00-20.00, Brussels Press Club, Rue Froissart 95

If you have trouble decide which language to speak when getting together with all your international friends, imagine what it’s like in the European Commission. You can find out on Multilingualism Day, where you’ll get access to the plenary chamber itself to meet interpreters and translators and take part in activities that demonstrate how 24 languages work in the place where European laws are debated and decided. There are also translation workshops and talks on how to become an interpreter, multilingualism in the democratic process and more. As you might have expected, multiple languages will be used, and interpreted. 29 September 10.00-18.00, European Parliament, Rue Wiertz

Both French- and Dutch-speaking kids are catered to this week at book fairs in Brussels Expo. While Salon Livre Jeunesse brings together publishers of children’s books, strip albums and other media in French, Boekenfestijn has a large selection of kids’ books in Dutch, as well as books in English, French and Dutch for the grown-ups. Good prices all around. Salon 3-7 October, Boekenfestijn 4-7 October, Brussels Expo, Place de Belgique 1

If you thought Brussels’ techo club Fuse was looking dated after nearly 25 years, you weren’t alone. It debuted its renovated main room last weekend, complete with new DJ booth, bars and sound system. This weekend sees the Bonzai All-Stars, Nobuo and Belgo-Italian Fernando Costantini hitting the decks.  

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

If you missed the street arts festival in Chassepierre this year or you are looking for something a little bit more off the wall, then this weekend make your way to the riverside city of Huy for Les Unes Fois d’Un Soir, the bad boy of street theatre arts with 24 free spectacles that push the envelope. The main day is Saturday, but the opening show is Friday evening in the village of Marchin, just south of Huy, and the city puts on tours on Sunday, including cruises on the river Meuse. New this year is a Saturday night party, with song and dance, circus surprises and a bal populaire. 28-30 September, in and around Huy (Liège province)

The haunting images of the Holocaust return forcefully in film, books, photographs and also graphic novels, which are on view in the exhibition Holocaust and Comics in Mechelen. From a hesitant beginning in an atmosphere of the taboo to the internationally best-selling series Maus, decades of strip history show a fascinating evolution in how artists develop forms to deal with Europe’s most grievous assault on humanity. Until 22 April, Kazerne Dossin Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on the Holocaust and Human Rights, Goswin de Stassartstraat 153, Mechelen

Photos: Nuits Sonores courtesy Bozar / Guerrilla Girls, ©Andrew Hinderaker, 2015 / European Parliament ©Getty Images / Les Unes Fois d’Un Soir courtesy event