Festival

Met het thema ‘Play Time!’, gaat Ars Musica dit jaar een speelse editie tegemoet. “Een goed gevuld en feestelijk festival, met voldoende aandacht voor jong talent en experiment,” zegt artistiek directeur Tarquin Billiet.

For the past decade, the Bâtard Festival has been offering upcoming artists opportunities by exhibiting their work in and around the Beursschouwburg. This year, the organisers want to try something new by organising a conference before the festival, in November. Philosophers, artists, activists, and students have been invited to reflect on the possible forms of collaboration within the competitive context of a festival. In addition, an answer to the following question will be sought: what are your concerns in your professional activities and private life? In early December, the conference is intended to result in the 11^th edition of the Bâtard Festival. Are you interested in collaborating? If so, submit your proposal to call@batard.be by 2 May. More info: www.batard.be

On Sunday 10 March the Offscreen Film Festival invites you for an evening in the company of John Waters, who is coming to Cinema Nova to present two of his legendary trash films from the 1970s: Pink Flamingos and Desperate Living. AGENDA is giving away 5 pairs of tickets for this disgusting date. E-mail "trash"to win@bdw.be.

Be prepared for the holy man's visit and read our interview!

(© Victor del Arbol)

On a beau annoncer sa mort prochaine à l’ère du numérique tout-puissant, le livre, celui qui se feuillette/déguste/dévore sur papier, est toujours bien là et il revient comme chaque année investir le site de Tour & Taxis à l’occasion de sa Foire.

(Lacrimosa © Kurt Van der Elst)

Le Festival XS, qui en est aujourd’hui à sa troisième édition, s’est installé très vite dans les mœurs des « fous de théâtre ». Il repose sur un concept « classique » en cinéma, le « court métrage », alors que la forme courte est rarissime en arts de la scène. Son initiateur, Alexandre Caputo, du Théâtre National, a donc parié qu’il pouvait offrir et de la quantité et de la qualité, en formes réduites de 5 à 25 minutes !

If you, as a film buff, are aiming for as much street credibility as juvenile delinquent Johnny Depp in Cry-Baby, you’d better book tickets for these films from Offscreen’s Camp & Trash programme right now.

Offscreen, Belgium’s most adventurous film festival, is geared up to hit your retinas hard with a special focus on trash and camp cinema over the next few weeks. We talked to guest of honour John Waters, who will be the subject of a retrospective and will also do a live stand-up show. “It was never just about shocking people.”

ABBota, het jaarlijkse uitwisselingsprogramma tussen de twee Brusselse concerthuizen, is aan zijn zevende editie toe. Vaststelling: ook al worden er nog steeds vaker acts met een Vlaamse achtergrond in de AB geprogrammeerd en groepen met Waalse en Brusselse roots in de Botanique, er is wel degelijk meer cross-over tussen de taalgebieden, zowel bij de muzikanten als bij het publiek. AGENDA laat vijf van de tien namen op de affiche zichzelf voorstellen.

Every year on the first Saturday of October, Nuit Blanche, an initiative of the City of Brussels, occupies dozens of locations in the capital with contemporary art creations, performances, and parties. The event aims to reintroduce audiences to well-known public places as well as unusual locations like shop display windows, hidden alleyways, car parks, or churches. This year, the event will disturb your sleep on 5 October. The organisers are currently looking for artists willing to participate. Please register by 25 March. More info and terms and conditions for submitting a portfolio are to be found on www.nuitblanchebrussels.be

(© Berlinde De Bruyckere)

One of the projects that caught our eye in the programme for the Performatik festival is the collaboration between the dancer and choreographer Vincent Dunoyer and the visual artist Berlinde De Bruyckere. In O.L.V. van Vaak/Notre Dame du Sommeil they have come up with something that is in between sleeping and waking and somewhere between performance art and visual art.