Several artistic venues in Brussels hit the headlines recently after the Belgian capital was declared the "epicentre" of Europe's contemporary art scene.
US daily The Washington Post featured Brussels' "popping" art scene in a story published at the weekend, looking into a myriad of venues scattered across the capital's 19 municipalities.
The newspaper listed household names such as the Magritte Museum or the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in a list of must-sees in the city, but lesser-known galleries, and emerging art spots also made it into the cut.
Venues for up and coming artists such as La Vallée were featured alongside high-end galleries in the city's collectors district in Sablon, or artist-run galleries in Saint-Gilles, in the image of the "cutting-edge" Damien & The Love Guru gallery.
Jumping from Molenbeek and Anderlecht to Saint-Gilles and Ixelles, the piece shed a light on how formerly disaffected and industrial parts of the city were moulting into diverse and bustling creative centres in what the Post referred to as the "creative renaissance" of Brussels.
Brussels' mix of "over 183 nationalities" was also explored in the piece, with the writer looking back on conversations held in "flawless English" with locals, and noting that encounters between cultures were part of day to day life in Brussels.
The story also noted how the city's artistic scene was increasingly enriched by the work of Belgians with varied national and cultural backgrounds, who were one of the many players crafting a "kaleidoscope" of experiences within the city's growing art scene.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
