Art meets craft at Brussels Design September

In the past 11 years, Brussels’ Design September has grown from a week-long taste of a burgeoning industry to a full-on feast of local and international design, spanning the entire capital for an entire month.

The numbers alone are impressive. The festival encompasses more than 100 design-related events, from exhibitions to conferences to pop-up stores to studio open-houses.

Dozens of designers from every industry imaginable are on board, and, with a guest list curated from the cream of the international design scene, Design September’s appeal is as qualitative as it is quantitative. Visitors will delight in appearances by the likes of pioneering Belgian architect Lucien Kroll and Lebanese superstar interior designer Carlo Massoud. Here are some highlights.

For the second time now, the Arts & Crafts route will focus on artisans in Brussels and their know-how. This sector, usually ‘hidden’ to the public, is alive and kicking in the capital. Craftsmen and women who specialise in tailor-made furniture will all be happy to welcome design enthusiasts into their workshops.

Must-sees include the Niyona leather workshop, but also the studios and showrooms of designer Charlotte Lancelot of the NoMoreTwist label. On 17 and 18 September, the public is invited to join workshops for initiation in textile techniques such as embroidery and painting.

Also not to miss: self-edited objects by Boris Paternostre at the UGC ArtBox art gallery and the boutique workshop of Eric Beauduin. You’ll be amazed by the results of the fruitful collaboration between this designer and plastic artist Cathy Croëz, which combines leather with ceramics.

Top exhibitions

The fourth edition of the Intersections biennial for contemporary art will team up with the CID of Grand-Hornu, presenting a selection of pieces that the Mons museum acquired over the past five years. They are showing at ADAM (Art & Design Museum), located next to the Atomium. At Bozar you’ll find photos by famous designer Charlotte Perriand, tracing her travels in Japan.

Design lovers will discover the work of six young, emerging designers at BIP (Brussels Info Place), who had the honor of representing Belgium recently in Milan (Salone del Mobile 2016). In addition, 13 designers who created a collective business for the 2016 Milan Design Week will join forces again in the Design Vlaanderen Gallery during September.

Go and listen!

Three big-name designers have been invited to give a lecture at Flagey. The first is Eugeni Quitllet, from Barcelona, who has created furniture for Kartell, Lexon and Vondom. Mårten Claesson is a Swedish architect. In 1995, he co-founded the world-renowned Swedish architecture and design partnership ‘Claesson Koivisto Rune’ – a multidisciplinary agency in the purest Scandinavian tradition. In addition, there is Carlo Massoud, who gained a Master’s degree in industrial design from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts in Beirut in 2008. Among his key projects are The Autopsy Project, a 2015 collaboration with his sister, ceramist Mary-Lynn Massoud, and with Otto Du Plessis of Bronze Age Foundry and Andile Dyalvane of Imiso (Cape Town, South Africa).

International focus

The Brussels design weeks are zooming in on Polish design in an exhibition arranged as a living room, fitted neatly inside a shipping container with windows, at Brussels’ Grand Place. This promises to be a fascinating dialogue between design and the square’s flamboyant gothic monuments. The Czech Republic, for its part, will invite design enthusiasts to discover not only its gastronomy, but also tableware art, including glass, china, lighting.

In the city centre

Be sure to visit the exhibition by paper designer Laure Devenelle in the offices of Prisme Editions and Second Life Festival – a vintage market where you can buy jewelry, bags, accessories and posters at the renowned Hôtel le Berger.

Several contemporary art galleries have a design program scheduled. Piano Nobile Gallery, for example, presents The Forest of Lights, a duo installation by Nathalie Dewez & Kaspar Hamacher. There’s also HD Gallery, which unites various designers working with wood and LKFF Art & Sculpture Project, where you’ll love the solo show of Les Deux Garçons.

Definitely don’t miss the Design Market at Tour & Taxis on 10 and 11 September. It’s a unique opportunity to take home a one-off, vintage object.

8-30 September, across Brussels