Programme

Presentation of the city theatre ARSENAAL/LAZARUS and the theatre company LAZARUS

The city theatre ARSENAAL/LAZARUS has a history of 60 years. LAZARUS is a collective of 5 actors and 1 actress and their productions are often based on Russian novelists. Last year, LAZARUS became the in-house theatre company of ARSENAAL and part of the artistic team with Willy Thomas as artistic director. Thomas will present The Ground of Things and The Life of Mechelen, two of the long-term city projects, ARSENAAL/LAZARUS is developing.

Historical walk

We will take a moment to stroll through the historical city centre passing by the famous Rombouts Tower.

Visit of the memorial and museum Kazerne Dossin.

The Kazerne Dossin is a memorial, museum and documentation centre about the holocaust. Drawing the persecution of Jews and Gypsies during the Second World War in Belgium, it denounces the mechanisms that cause violations of human rights.

Presentation of the arts centre NONA/Contour and the theatre company Abattoir Fermé. Performance Ghost of Abattoir Fermé (100 min).

Since 2001, the arts centre NONA produces and presents contemporary performing arts, jazz and Contour, a biennial of moving image. NONA’s partners in crime are the internationally acclaimed theatre company Abattoir Fermé and the dance and performance group Voetvolk, founded by dancer/choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez and composer/musician Maarten Van Cauwenberghe.

Inspired by travellings to Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi (USA), the performance Ghost is an immersive and exquisitely designed nightmare which pulls you straight into the swamps 'down south'. Showcasing Abattoir Fermé’s intriguing theatrical universe, with no spoken text but all the more magical images, Ghost delves into dark corners of the human soul while remaining comical and sinister at the same time.

Presentation of the image foundry DE MAAN and performance If Walls Could Talk (12 min) of Christiaan Mariman.

Former puppet theatre DE MAAN became a successful production house working in the field of multidisciplinary and visual theatre for children, youngsters and adults. The two venues that make up the image foundry DE MAAN are beautifully located in a historical building where a place is given to young talent.

Initially developed for the opening festival of the new build theatre of DE MAAN, If Walls Could Talk is a performance by the young artist Christiaan Mariman that received praise since its premiere. In this non-verbal performance, we see a lonely man trapped in his daily routines.

Visit of the contemporary art exhibitions at De Garage and the cultural centre of Mechelen.

In the exhibition Replace me as the Substitute, on view in contemporary art space De Garage, Italian performance - and visual artist Michael Fliri continues his explorations in the concepts of metamorphosis and disguise. In his work, Fliri tries to capture a protagonist -often Fliri himself- going through a transition from one world to another.

The Belgian photographer Tim Dirven presents a selection of his oeuvre in the exhibition Karkas in the cultural centre of Mechelen. The engaged press photographer Dirven shows a social class in which survival is the main concern.

Goodbye drink at bar KUUB.

Catch up with the other participants of this amazing journey while enjoying the taste of a local beer.