From Saturday 13 April to Sunday 1 September, the centre of Bruges and the beach at Zeebrugge will once again be a platform for contemporary art and architecture in the public space. The triennial runs for almost five months.

The curators for this fourth edition are Shendy Gardin and Sevie Tsampalla, assisted by artistic coordinator Alan Quireyns.

SO-IL, Sumayya Vally, Iván Argote, Bangkok Project Studio, Shingo Masuda + Katsuhisa Otsubo Architects, Studio Ossidiana are among the participants of the Bruges Triennial 2024. 

Bruges Triennial 2024 looks firmly towards the future for this fourth edition. How can we safeguard the liveability of Bruges, and cities more generally, in a protective way? How do we approach concepts such as sustainability and change in a UNESCO-protected environment where preservation is central? And how can contemporary art and architecture create a new framework for these issues?.

These questions have informed Bruges Triennial’s collaboration with the twelve participating artists and architects. They have come to Bruges from all over the world in search of the slumbering potential of the ever- changing city. Their site-specific installations create new connections – between street and square, between people and animals, residents and passers-by – and make us reflect on the social, economic and ecological challenges and opportunities that await us as a society.

Contemporary art and architecture merge with the context of a UNESCO world heritage site in the Bruges Triennial, which occupies a unique place in the Belgian and international arts landscape.

Extensive public programme

In addition to the twelve art and architecture installations in Bruges city centre and Zeebrugge, the Triennial also boasts an extensive public programme. It includes guided tours, educational packages for schools and families, accessible visitor tools and a calendar of events that both frame and expand this year’s theme, Spaces of Possibility.

Citywide events

The Bruges Triennial has joined forces with four cultural partners for the fourth edition: Cultuurcentrum Brugge, De Republiek | Dertien12, Het Entrepot and Musea Brugge. They have devised their own programmes specifically for TRIBRU24 and are delving deeper into the themes at the heart of the event.

In the Porters Lodge, Cultuurcentrum Brugge brings together six artists with Bruges roots. They dive into the ‘memory’ of this historic site in the exhibition Memory as Building. De Republiek and Dertien12 embark on an urban expedition and are organising a special edition of the lecture series Letters to the City. Het Entrepot presents Brecht Vanhoutte’s work At Rise Of Curtain: an installation, performance, set and the scenography for the artist’s debut film-to-be. With Rebel Garden, Musea Brugge presents an ambitious exhibition at three venues (Groeninge Museum, Gruuthusemusem, St John’s Hospital Museum) on the theme of climate change. Historic and contemporary artworks put the tumultuous relationship between man and nature under scrutiny and place a finger on the painful wound that is the climate crisis.

"The twelve art and architectural installations not only provide a different view of Bruges, but also illustrate how we can deal with space and materials differently in the future. They challenge and encourage dialogue about how things can be done. Together, they tell the story of a city in the throes of change: Spaces of Possibility," said Shendy Gardin co-curator, Bruges Triennial 2024.

“The exhibition takes Bruges as a vantage point from which to imagine other possible cities and futures. Drawing inspiration on Rebecca Solnit’s writings, it invites artists and architects to engage with the city as a ‘repository of possibilities’. Practising the possible is about challenging dominant paradigms and proposing that things can be done otherwise," said Sevie Tsampalla co-curator, Bruges Triennial 2024.

See the full programme of the Bruges Triennial 2024. 

See the upcoming events of the Bruges Triennial 2024. 

Find out more information on the Bruges Triennial's website.

Top image courtesy of Bruges Triennial.

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