Inside or outside, here or there, open or closed, public or private… The concepts of “limit” and “threshold” have particularly fascinated and inspired Western culture. The ARTONOV Festival at the Belgian capital has made them the central theme of its 9th edition. From October 7th to 15th, the festival will host an eclectic range of artists in remarkable venues such as the fondation blan, Les Brigittines, the architectural complex BOB361, and École n°13 de Schaerbeek. The artists range from Xenakis Trio to Silvia Costa, presenting a multitude of performances premiering in Brussels. To open the festival the Galerie Ravenstein will host the contemporary circus performance by Chloé Moglia and it will be accessible for free.
The ARTONOV Festival is the convergence of performing arts (music, dance, theater, fashion) and visual arts within Art Nouveau and Art Deco houses as well as other venues of remarkable architecture in Brussels. “ARTONOV continues to reinvent itself. This edition is full of novelties, both in terms of disciplines and artists, as well as venues,” emphasizes artistic director Vincenzo Casale. “Since we often had sold-out shows in previous editions, we sought and found new venues with larger capacities.”
Moreover, with the City of Brussels proclaiming 2023 as the “Year of Art Nouveau,” this artistic movement is even more strongly represented, including a few unprecedented locations. For instance, Elementary School No. 13 in Schaerbeek will host “Les Souffles”, a performance conceived by contemporary dancer and musician Mathieu Calmelet, sound artist Octave Courtin, and visual artist Ludivine Large-Bessette: three individuals and peculiar wind sculptures come into relation, activate, contract, and surrender, dreaming of new relational modes between the human body and its environment.
Three Art Nouveau houses are making their debut at the ARTONOV Festival. Maison Hannon will host a creation by Japanese sound artist Tomoko Sauvage and Belgian artist Elise Peroi. One of them creates music with waterbowls, while the other explores the ancestral gestural dimension linked to weaving. Not far from there, two houses designed by architect Gustave Strauven will open their doors for two intimate short-format concerts, which will be repeated several times. Belgian gambist Thomas Baeté will present a carte blanche program titled “On Solitude” at Maison Strauven, inspired by the fragile and vulnerable beauty of the architect’s former residence. In a similar format, Belgian lutenist Sofie Vanden Eynde and Iranian tar and setar player, Shahab Azinmehr, will blend their sounds and traditions in a custom-made program composed for Maison Saint-Cyr, known for its magnificent wrought ironwork that makes it one of the most astonishing examples of Brussels Art Nouveau.
At the Parc du Cinquantenaire, in the Royal Museums of Art and History (MRAH), the ensemble Sturm und Klang and Belgian mezzo-soprano Pauline Claes will present “La jeune fille à la fenêtre”, a sung monodrama by Eugène Samuel-Holeman with text by symbolist writer Camille Lemonnier, a major figure in Belgian literature.
This year, the ARTONOV Festival is making its debut at the Brigittines, where it has programmed the music and light show “ALLIAGE(S)”, a creation by the percussionists of Xenakis Trio with visual artist Vivian Daval, inviting the audience to experience a different form of sound and spatial perception.
Among other new venues, visitors can discover at the fondation blan (Ixelles) the in-situ creation “Extant”, developed by Jamie Lee and Stanislav Dobák (Motionhouse) during their artist residency at the Foundation. This immersive interdisciplinary performance transforms the space into a film studio and creates a captivating experience through a blend of dance and film.
Premiering in Brussels, Italian artist Silvia Costa will present two shows. La Mercerie will host an in-situ adaptation of her performance “Dans le pays d’hiver”. Inspired by Cesare Pavese’s Dialogues with Leuco, this subtle and poetic performance, combining theater and visual art, will be presented in Italian with French and Dutch subtitles. The next day, in the Residential and workspace BOB361, she will present ” E Dio si riposó il settimo giorno”, a creative and interactive performance that studies and celebrates the family bond, by bringing together four generations to collaborate on a large painting.
Last but not least, the ARTONOV Festival also offers shows for the whole family. For instance, the renowned collective Spat’Sonore, known for their spatialized instruments, will give the Brussels premiere of “Madeleines dans la galaxie” at Halles Saint-Géry. The six musician engineers will invite people aged 8 to 88 into their sound igloo for an extraordinary musical experience.
Finally, at Galerie Ravenstein, the performance “Horizon” will take place. Suspended from an elegant structure resembling a sculpture, combining physical feats and poetry, French dancer acrobat Chloé Moglia will defy the laws of gravity.