

Ooidonk Art Festival, Goed te Réables estate, Deinze (Leie region), Belgium, 18 June – 30 August 2026
A landscape is never finished. It shifts with the light, the seasons, the hand that works it. What happens when contemporary art settles into that landscape and the walker is asked to slow down? The Ooidonk Art Festival returns for a fifth edition, this year deliberately concentrated: one location, around twenty artists from Belgium, Northern France and the south of the Netherlands, a trail through meadow, grazing cattle and the open horizon of the historic Goed te Réables es


Intiem, Villa Les Zéphyrs, Westende (Middelkerke), Belgium, 15 June – 8 November 2026
Intimacy is the space where we come closest to another and where we are most exposed. Why does nearness draw us in and unsettle us at the same time? What do we surrender when we let someone in, and what do we keep behind the door? Intiem (Intimate), the summer exhibition at Villa Les Zéphyrs, is curated by guest curator Jan Leysen as a meditation on closeness. Leysen, a criminal defence lawyer and a collector of contemporary art since the age of seventeen, drew together eight


Day of the Cosmogolem, June 7th, LABIOMISTA, Genk (BE)
On Sunday, June 7, LABIOMISTA in Genk hosts the ninth edition of the Day of the Cosmogolem — a vibrant family day dedicated to connection, imagination and the power of children and young people. This year’s theme, Never Alone, explores what it means to grow, dream and belong together. At the heart of the event stands the Cosmogolem, the giant wooden figure created by Koen Vanmechelen in which children from around the world leave messages, wishes and dreams. Installed in more


We Thought We Were Alone, Palazzo Rota Ivancich, Venice (IT), May 6 – 22 NOV 2026
Koen Vanmechelen presents We Thought We Were Alone, his first solo sculptural exhibition in Venice, now open to the public at Palazzo Rota Ivancich, coinciding with the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by James Putnam, the exhibition unfolds across three floors, bringing together more than 40 new works that explore relationships between living organisms and the inorganic environment, where transformation and coexistence emerge beyond fixed


Koen Vanmechelen at Ancestrale, Two villas on the Brenta Riviera, Venice (IT) — May 12 – June 7, 2026
The Brenta Riviera has always been a place of transit — between Venice and the mainland, between private wealth and open water. This spring, two of its historic villas become sites for new work by Koen Vanmechelen, shown as part of Ancestrale, an arts and culture festival rooted in the landscape and history of the river. The works on view at Villa Moscheni Volpi and Villa Widmann were first presented at the opening of We Thought We Were Alone , Vanmechelen's major exhibition


GLASSTRESS – The Modern Art Revolution in Venice, Tsinghua University, Beijing (CN)01 april - 05 mei 2026
From 1 April to 5 May 2026 Koen Vanmechelen is both a featured artist in GLASSTRESS – The Modern Art Revolution in Venice at Tsinghua University, as Chief Artistic Director of the project. The exhibition, curated by Ma Sai, Dean Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University and Adriano Berengo, founder Berengo Studio, brings together 56 artists from over 20 countries and presents more than 60 works. Unfolding across four thematic sections, it explores the role of glass within


TEMPTATION, Glasstress Vicenza: A Selection, Palazzo Thiene, Vicenza (IT), 6 NOV 25 - 8 March 26
Glasstress © Koen Vanmechelen From history to glass: Glasstress Vicenza opens the door to a renewed vision of transparency, craft and collaboration. The international exhibition, curated by Francesca Valente and Jean Blanchaert, brings together over 40 works by internationally renowned artists such as Ai Weiwei, Laure Prouvost, Monica Bonvicini, Koen Vanmechelen, Jaume Plensa, Emilio Isgrò, and many others. The show also debuts new works by Peter Shire, Tony Cragg, and M


Seduction, Metamorphoses, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (NL), 6 FEB – 25 MAY 2026
The prestigious Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam invites Koen Vanmechelen to participate in the group exhibition Metamorphoses. Rijksmuseum - 2014 - © John Lewis Marshall Passion and desire, lust and jealousy, cunning and deceit — few classical texts have stirred the imagination of artists as deeply as Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In the eponymous exhibition artists as Titian, Correggio, Cellini, Caravaggio, Rubens, Rodin, Brancusi, Magritte, and Bourgeois rival the imaginative power and ar


Koen Vanmechelen creates new artwork for Art on the Meuse in Dilsen-Stokkem
Along the Meuse in Rotem (Dilsen-Stokkem), a new artwork will rise in 2026: Future Fossil, by Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen (BE, °1965). The monumental sculpture embodies the ongoing dialogue between humans, river and nature – a tribute to the landscape of the RivierPark Maasvallei. A fossil from the future With a view over the Meuse, between Kempenstraat and the cycle dyke towards Elerweerd, Future Fossil will soon take shape. The work is rooted in old sandbags once piled


Open Studio november
On Sunday, November 2, artist Koen Vanmechelen will once again open his studio to all visitors. A unique opportunity to admire Vanmechelen’s work in progress inside the striking building The Battery – a design by Swiss architect Mario Botta. Take a break at Nomadland, where the awnings of the colorful caravans are open for food & drinks. Practical Information Places for the Open Studio are limited, so be sure to book your ticket in advance via tickets. Residents of Genk and


















