From Saturday 13 April to Sunday 1 September 2024, the Bruges Triennial – with the theme Spaces of Possibility – will once again occupy the streets of the historic city centre and Zeebrugge with contemporary art and architectural installations. For its fourth edition, the Bruges Triennial will hold up the dormant potential of the everchanging city to the light. Together with twelve artists and architects, and via artistic interventions, it will challenge existing locations, connect the city’s quarters, and seek out hidden beauty. With this event, in which contemporary art and architecture merge into the UNESCO context of Bruges, the Bruges Triennial occupies a unique place in the Belgian arts landscape.
The 4th edition of the Bruges Triennial – Spaces of Possibility – explores the latent potential of the city. How can a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where preservation is central, deal with concepts such as change and sustainability, and how can contemporary art and architecture create a new framework for these processes?
The past three years have brought many things into focus. We are challenged to think differently, adopt new methods and use materials and resources more intelligently if we want to prioritise our well-being and that of the planet. The role that public space assumes in this story is essential: of movement, encounter and creativity, of perspective, flexibility, chance and freedom. In Bruges too. A city shaped by a succession of histories and which, since its foundation in the 9th century, has continued to evolve into the mesh we know today: a 13th-century structure that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 and which, at 8.6 kilometres in circumference and 430-hectares in area, remains a city on a human scale.
Twelve international artists and architects are redefining – if only temporarily – some of the city’s un(der)used or scarcely noticed locations. With their artistic interventions and large-scale installations, they connect urban districts, demonstrate new forms of use and search for beauty in typically overlooked places.
The works – primarily around the city centre and West-Bruges and one in Zeebrugge – address its history, its rich patrimony and create new social, societal and ecological narratives that can initiate further sustainable transformation – not only for Bruges, but also for cities worldwide.
Bruges Triennial 2024: Spaces of Possibility is an invitation to leave the familiar terrain, find inspiration and be amazed at how things can be done. An exercise in imagination; a glimpse of what Bruges, and cities in general, can be, both today and in the future.
13.04.2024-01.09.2024
