Body sculptures take over Brussels for Performatik 17

It’s all about bodies at Performatik 17, the biennial festival of performance art in Brussels, which kicks off on Friday. “From movement in sculptures to the sculpting of movement: body sculptures play a central role in this edition,” the organisers explain. “They are never monumental, and are always fragile. Performatik 17 opts for probability over certainty, for the careful creation of social sculptures.”

In particular they want people to focus on the here and now, and to leave the bubble of social media through which so much of modern life is experienced. So In_Dependence by Flemish artist Maarten Vanden Eynde and the Cameroonian Alioum Moussa uses pairs of people – this means you – to raise questions about personal, political and artistic relationships. They can be found daily on Muntplein.

You will also need a partner to experience The Quiet Volume by Ant Hampton and Tim Etchels. Sitting side by side in the reading room of Muntpunt, a voice in your ear gives whispered instructions that guide you through a pile of books, a narrative that is unique to each duo.

Other eye-catching work includes two pieces inspired by American dance pioneer Loïe Fuller, who innovated in her use of fabric. Bombyx Mori by the Paris-based Ola Maciejewska sculpts bodies and fabric into a performance for three dancers (pictured), while in Caen Amour New Yorker Trajal Harrell riffs on the blurred lines between experimentation, entertainment and erotic dancing.

Sculpture is a direct inspiration for German artist Grace Schwindt, whose Opera and Steel uses Bernini’s Daphne and Apollo as a visual starting point for a performance exploring the effects of capitalism on the natural world.

As well as performances, Performatik also proposes a series of talks between artists and curators, and an opening lecture by art historian Dorothea von Hantelmann.

24 March to 1 April, across Brussels