Fun for Brussels

MILL (Gosset building, Molenbeek)
18 November 2020 - 20 January 2021

Be.Here (Byrrh, Laeken)
2 December 2020 - 12 February 2021

Materials: video

In March 2020, COVID-19 enveloped the whole world in silence and restricted everyone to the confines of their own homes. It soon became clear that the experience of art would also suffer greatly as a result. This experience preferably happens collectively, in a group and as an encounter between artist and audience. That’s precisely where a virus finds its breeding ground. 

For artists and performers all over the world, a moment of reflection began. How do we bring our art to people? How do we reach our audience if they can no longer come to us? Livestreams, personal events and online disclosure of archives were used as alternatives but served as a small bandaid on a big wound.

When COVID-19 regained ground in the autumn of 2020 and the second wave brought with it a second lockdown, Needcompany's artist Grace Ellen Barkey approached the situation with a reversed philosophy. We should not try to get into people's living rooms, we should reach people where they are still allowed to go: the public space. This philosophy was embodied in Fun for Brussels, a local art project with which Needcompany wants to bring some light into the public space in these dark times.

With the projection of a selection of uplifting, humorous videos from the project 18 Videos (2012) by Lemm&Barkey on a wall of the Gosset building - Needcompany's home base - visible to passers-by and local residents, Barkey reaches out to Molenbeek. The woman walking the dog, the man returning from kindergarten with his children or someone taking a quick breath of fresh air... They can all be amazed by the projection of absurd creatures from an insane world full of porcelain, paper and fabric attributes.

In addition to the projections on the Gosset building, Barkey also seeks connection with local residents in biomarket Be.Here in the Byrrh building behind Thurn & Taxis. The market is a meeting place where all layers of the local community cross each other and is therefore ideal for a moment of wonder and enlightenment with the selection from 18 Videos.

With this project, Needcompany wants to give the neighbourhood an artistic boost and at the same time show the world that, behind the walls of the massive Gosset building, work is continuing on art in order to bring people back together and revive the power of the collective experience of art.

 

Needcompany opens the doors of the rehearsal room with Invisible Time, in a virtual way. With this project, we want to share the time of creation - the invisible time before the finalised performance -  with our audience. By doing so, we let them take an inside look into the substance of a performance and a dive into the world surrounding it. It is a powerful statement that connects audiences to our company on a deeper and other level.

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MILL (Gosset building, Molenbeek)
18 November 2020 - 20 January 2021

Be.Here (Byrrh, Laeken)
2 December 2020 - 12 February 2021

Materials: video

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