What’s on this week: 8-14 October

The event to beat this autumn is without a doubt a double exhibition of work by the British artistic genius David Hockney. Works from the Tate Collection, 1954-2017 takes the visitor on a journey through the long career of the 83-year-old artist, while David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, is a collection of his most recent work. Under the tagline ‘Do remember they can’t cancel the spring,’ Hockney created the series in Normandy in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Not for the first time, the artist drew the series using his iPad. The double show marks the first time a major Hockney exhibition has been staged in Belgium in 30 years. 8 October to 23 January, Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23

The Goethe Institute’s German Jazz Nights brings the biggest names in the country’s jazz scene to Brussels, including the Eva Klesse Quartet, Simin Tandere and Pablo Held. It’s the 10th anniversary edition of the event, held at the groovy Jazz Station. 14-16 October, Chaussée de Louvain 195 (Saint-Josse)

There are still some decent seats left to see world-renowned trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis at Bozar. The director of Jazz at Lincoln Center is bringing his orchestra with him for a tour of the continent. Catch it if you can. 10 October 20.30, Rue Ravenstein 23

The Fake for Real exhibition, exploring a social media landscape deluged with fake news and misleading claims, has been extended until the end of January. Get an in-depth look at a single part of the show with a guide on Fake Fridays. The next one is on 15 October. Until 31 January,  House of European History, Rue Belliard 135

It’s a triple whammy at L’Enfant Sauvage, with three shows by Belgian photographers running simultaneously. Check out Joselito Verschaeve’s black-and-white series where his extreme close-ups of bodies resemble his mysterious landscapes; Dinaya Waeyaert’s Come Closer, intimate shots of her partner, who she photographs every day; and Renée Lorie’s shots of La Palma as she strives for images of islands that show the isolation and the connections between people all at once. Until 30 October, Rue de l’Enseignement 23

Brussels stage director Sanja Mitrovic’s Demeter Calling takes a look at a little thing called sexism as stories of women from the last 100 years are transformed into songs that complicate the notion of motherhood. The fusion concert-performance draws attention to the gap between the lives of women as prescribed by others and the lives they want for themselves. 14-15 October, KVS, Quai aux Pierres de Taille 7

Bozar and the Korean Cultural Center celebrate the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries with Dive Into Korea, a festival of film, concerts and dance. Coming up this week is a concert by an ensemble of Korean laureates of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Don’t miss the Korean Film Festival, launching later this month. Until 30 October, across Brussels and Belgium

Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers was first a poet – which meant that he made no money. So he stuck his unsold books of poetry in plaster, creating his first work of art. This proved to be popular, and he continued to produce ironic and droll pieces, becoming one of the world’s most influential artists of the 20th century. Wiels has dedicated an exhibition to the street signs he created to string together into poetry, treating, he said, “the image as word and the word as image”. Until 9 January, Avenue van Volxem 354 (Forest)

To celebrate its new name and move to a bigger space, Up Circus & Performing Arts (previously Espace Catastrophe) presents Circus, I Love You, an ode to contemporary circus in all its many forms. Grab tickets for the whole family and head to the big top (it’s pink, you can’t miss it). Until 23 October, Rue Osseghem 50 (Molenbeek)

Get tix now: Museum Night Fever is back! One of Brussels coolest events shuttles you from museum to museum for off-the-wall performances, DJs, film and more, all embedded within exhibitions and collections. There are also interactive activities, like contributing your own language to a cartography of Brussels’ multilingualism and making your own funky fashion accessories. Nearly 30 museums are taking part for this fun and inspiring evening. Kids, by the way, go free. 23 October, across Brussels

OUTSIDE BRUSSELS

Next up in Flemish Brabant’s Guided Tour for Internationals: A culinary tour of Leuven and a chocolate and beer pairing in Diest. The latter is followed by a tour of the city. All of the Guided Tours for Internationals are in English. Leuven 9 October 14.00; Diest 10 October 14.00-16.00

Now in its 48th year, Film Fest Gent hosts special guests, discussions, parties, music-film fusion series Videodroom and the World Soundtrack Awards, along with its 100-plus movies. A focus on Greek cinema this year means a Lifetime Achievement Award for composer Eleni Karaindrou, who has given us scores for films such as The Dust of Time, Eternity and a Day and Mad Max: Fury Road. She will perform her work on piano alongside the Brussels Philharmonic. Opening the festival is La Civil, winner of the Prix du Courage at Cannes and the feature film debut of Ghent-based director Teodora Ana Mihai. This is Belgium’s largest film festival, and it shows. 12-23 October, across Ghent

Photos, from top: ‘No 125’, 19 March 2020, iPad painting, ©David Hockney; ©Piper Ferguson; ©Dinaya Waeyaert; ©Lee Jong-pil/Lotte Culture Works; ©Minja Kaukoniemi; courtesy Leuven Inside Out. Sorry! Our prize giveaway has now closed and the winner has been notified.