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.
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.
About the theme Spaces of Possibility
After three editions in which the Bruges Triennial focused on the fictional idea of the city as a megalopolis (2015), the metaphor of the Liquid City (2018) and Bruges between dream and TraumA (2021), today we want to talk about the future. In a UNESCO-protected heritage city where preservation is central, how can we think about concepts such as sustainability and change, and how can contemporary art and architecture create a new framework for this process?
The past three years have brought many Things into focus: multiple crises on a global scale are deepening environmental damage, increasing housing and work pressures, and affecting health and social life. While opportunism, extractivism and construction fever continue to set the tone, these times are also bringing a new awareness of our interdependencies and hold the potential for socio-ecological change. 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.
Bruges Triennial 2024:
Spaces of Possibility
13.04 – 01.09.2024
In Bruges city centre and Zeebrugge
Always open, always free
PM: ©Triennale Brugge
Foto: Iván Argote – Who? © Filip Dujardin