Brussels' Museum Night Fever returns on Saturday 14 March 2020 for what is expected to be the biggest edition so far.
Last year nearly 17,000 people took part in the evening. With 31 participating museums, the 13th edition will be the biggest since its start.
Museum Night Fever aims to be a space for experimentation for both emerging artists and the museums that host them, and test new methods of dialogue with their audiences. It refutes the formal image of museums, access to which is still a privilege for many.
For visitors, it is a unique opportunity to discover unpredictable performances and installations throughout the night in an electrifying atmosphere.
The programme for Museum Night Fever 2020 offers visitors countless combinations of museum visits but not only: visitors can expect concerts, performances, art installations, film, black magic, artworks that literally speak, a giant luminous jellyfish, frenzy and, obviously, a good dash of unpredictability. In short, a night of freedom celebrating Brussels diversity and individuality.
The 31 museums open their doors from 19:00 to 01:00.
Five after-parties close the night between music and audiovisual performances in 5 participating museums: Le Motel & Antoine De Schuyter at the Army Museum, OTON (Live) + Dc Salas + Bon Public at the Halles Saint-Géry, Théo Gee at experience.brussels, BLEDARTE at WIELS and Cosmic Pop Records + Loumana & Peter Clinton at MIMA.
During the evening, STIB shuttle buses run between the various museums, departing from Place Royale. Three 'retro' buses from the Tram Museum will take visitors directly to Train World. In addition visitors can expect to find numerous food trucks lined up along the way.
More than a hundred events are organised throughout the evening to showcase young artists:
- At the Army Museum, students from the fashion section of the Bischoffsheim Institute present their vision of the Liberation through a fashion show of unique creations.
- Between the Sewer Museum and the Grande Écluse, a choreographed cascade of movements created by Lotte Van Gelder and students from Institut Supérieur des Arts et des Chorégraphies and the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles metaphorically plunge visitors into the Senne.
- At CIVA, Les Meutes and Freestyle Lab collectives redefine what avant-garde is through hip hop proposals (dance, music and video) inspired by the '7 arts' exhibition.
- At art et marges museum, the Magical Amators Club elevates our daily routines to rituals in performances that revisit everything from tooth brushing to female menstruation...Get your cards drawn by Juliette Dana and, if need be, settle the score with destiny by making a voodoo doll with ADNA studio.
- At the Comics Art Museum, La Plus Grande Kermesse du Monde has taken on the task of transforming the museum into a giant arcade with crazy prices and strange tastings as a bonus.
Revamped hit exhibitions of the season
Museum Night Fever is an opportunity for anyone who wants to combine several unmissable exhibitions this season. Among the revisited exhibitions of the 31 museums:
- At MIMA, Z00 questions our conception of humanity by bringing together the anthropomorphic pop creatures of 11 international artists. The musical performance SAUVAGE by Fab DuBard and Stien Bovijn recalls the exhibition by combining synthetic technologies and the primitive nature of the human being.
- At the Jewish Museum of Belgium, the exhibition Superheroes never die. Comics & Jewish Memories explores the origins of our favourite superheroes through more than 200 works. IAD’s emerging superartists will offer colourful theatrical performances.
- At WIELS, German artist Wolfgang Tillmans pushes the boundaries of photography in Today is The First Day while Thao Nguyen Phan delicately explores her native Vietnam. Inspired by these two exhibitions, students from the E.R.G. and LUCA School of Arts transform the entire WIELS into a Poetic World. Their installations are an invitation to share emotions and memories.
- At the Boghossian Foundation, Le Monde à Plat explores representations of the world through art: cartography, borders and travels, social and ecological upheavals. The Conference of the Birds by the Persian mystical poet Farid Uddin Attar serves as a compass for the performance of the musical trio Saouta and the choreographer Gilles Polet.
- At Train World, it is the last call to admire the mystical works of Paul Delvaux, which showcase his love of trains and stations. Actress and director Sun Lhonoré takes two girls out of the artworks to deliver a moving (and danced) story born of their many travels and encounters through time.
- At Fondation A Stichting, the exhibition dedicated to the photographer Francesco Neri takes us through the changing landscapes of Emilia-Romagna. Thanks to a sound walk, the visitor wanders among the images of the photographer.
Practical information:
14 March 2020
19:00 - 01:00 + 5 AFTERPARTIES
31 participating museums in Brussels
Price: 13 € in presale / 17 € on the day of the event. Afterparties, shuttles and noctis included.
Online and tickets are available at www.museumnightfever.be and at various points of sales (see website).
An info point will be set up on Place Royale from March 11th.
STIB shuttles between the museums and Noctis buses are accessible with the Museum Night Fever bracelet.
