How can you experience Brussels’ Art Nouveau through the 12th ARTONOV Festival?

The festival brings together Belgian, European and Japanese artists in roughly ten propositions spanning music, dance, performance and exhibition. BX1, reporting from the programme announcement, said the edition consists almost entirely of new works or Brussels premieres. That makes the architecture more than an attractive backdrop: ARTONOV’s central proposition is that a performance should enter into conversation with the history, proportions and materials of the room around it.

Among the announced settings are Hôtel Winssinger, Maison Pelgrims and Hôtel van Eetvelde. The latter belongs to the group of major Victor Horta town houses inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, while Maison Pelgrims is a cultural venue run by the commune of Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis. The itinerary therefore reaches beyond the City of Brussels proper into the capital’s municipal geography, where French and Dutch names often appear side by side on signs, maps and public-transport information.

The festival’s new Lab ARTONOV

Place

Japan

International cultural partner highlighted in the 12th edition.

Why it matters

International cultural partner highlighted in the 12th edition.

About

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered to the west by the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk in the north, and the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands alongside over 14,000 smaller islands.

View on map ↗View source record ↗

The 2026 theme, “We Do Not Work Alone,” comes from Japanese ceramic artist Kanjirō Kawai, a leading figure in the mingei movement. The festival interprets the phrase broadly: artistic creation emerges through inherited skills, collective memory, materials and encounters rather than through an isolated individual.

That idea also gives the Belgian-Japanese programme more substance than a ceremonial anniversary label. The Embassy of Japan in Belgium confirms that Belgium and Japan established diplomatic relations through the Treaty of Amity and Commerce signed on 1 August 1866. Their 160th anniversary is being marked throughout 2026 with cultural and exchange projects in both countries. At ARTONOV, the connection is expressed through artists, craft traditions and contemporary performance rather than a conventional historical display.

One announced production, “Hybridation,” is scheduled at the Uccle/Ukkel Cultural Centre on 6 October. The festival describes a performance in which Olivier de Sagazan and Alyzée Soudet use clay to transform their faces and identities, accompanied by collaborators including Natalie Carducci and Roger Helou. It fits an edition interested in making, material and the unstable boundary between an inherited form and a new work.

For newcomers to Brussels, ARTONOV offers something that an exterior architecture walk cannot: the chance to encounter interiors while they are activated by sound, movement or performance. Visit.brussels, the Brussels-Capital Region’s official tourism agency, presents the festival as one of the city’s recurring ways to experience Art Nouveau and Art Deco through contemporary art.

The approach is distinct from a standard guided visit. A ticket is principally for the artistic event, not necessarily for a comprehensive architectural tour. Anyone seeking detailed building history should combine the festival with resources from visit.brussels, urban.brussels or the relevant commune/gemeente. Brussels’ wider heritage calendar also includes the BANAD Festival, whose emphasis is more directly on guided access to Art Nouveau and Art Deco interiors.

Language deserves a quick check at the point of booking. ARTONOV publishes information in French and English, while official Brussels information may also appear in Dutch. Performances involving spoken text, introductions or surtitles can have their own language arrangements; the programme page for the chosen event is the reliable reference. International visitors should not assume that every production is language-free merely because dance and music feature prominently.

Accessibility likewise depends on the building. Heritage houses may have stairs, narrow circulation routes or limited adapted facilities, while established cultural centres can offer a different level of access. Visitors who need step-free entry, an adapted seat or assistance should contact ARTONOV or the venue before purchasing. The same caution applies to late arrivals: intimate, site-specific performances may have stricter admission conditions than a conventional auditorium.

Start on festival-artonov.eu and select by date, venue and art form. Then copy the full address into STIB-MIVB’s journey planner rather than searching only for the building name; several events are outside the central pentagon. Allow time between appointments, because Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne, Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis and Uccle/Ukkel are separate parts of the region. Finally, recheck the listing shortly before departure for the confirmed start time, language, ticket conditions and access instructions.

The programme announcement establishes the festival’s dates, theme and principal locations, but not every practical detail is consistently reproduced by third-party listings. Prices, concessions, running times and remaining capacity should therefore be verified on each official event page. ARTONOV runs until 23 October, and the next measure of the edition will be whether its new creations genuinely make these celebrated rooms feel newly legible—not only beautiful.