What's on this week: 1-7 September

It’s the 19th edition of the Belgian Beer Weekend with all the regular features: the consecration of the beer in the cathedral and the enthronement of the new members of the Knighthood of the Brewers’ Paddle, both on Friday, the gathering of the historical brewery carts and beer wagons on the Fishmarket, the procession through town and the parade on the Grand-Place, all on Saturday, and the marching bands and beer fraternities parade on Sunday. But the main event, of course, is the 45 small, medium and large Belgian breweries presenting their hundreds of beers in the gorgeous setting that is the Grand-Place. And, despite the large amount of beer consumed, the festival always seems to maintain a friendly, fun and instructive atmosphere. Sales of the bottle caps that are legal tender at the festival are kept limited to only two pay desks (one cash only) to control crowd size.

In Patterns for (Re)cognition, Brussels-based American artist Vincent Meessen exposes a gap in the modern art historiography of Belgium and the Congo with modular structures, 16mm films, 19th-century objects and a sound installation set against the watercolours of late Congolese painter Tshela Tendu.
Until 10 September, Bozar, Rue Ravenstein 23, Brussels

The historic opera house La Monnaie has been closed to all but construction crews for two years, forcing the organisation to stage productions elsewhere in an Extra Muros programme. Now the Brussels venue is inaugurating its newly renovated opera house with the Belgian premiere of Flemish composer Philippe Boesmans’ Pinocchio. Created in collaboration with French playwright and director Joël Pommerat for this year’s Aix-en-Provence Festival, the production is a darker take on the well-known tale, more in keeping with Carlo Collodi’s original than Walt Disney’s adaptation. Soprano Chloé Briot stars as the eponymous puppet. (In French with Dutch surtitles)
5-16 September, La Monnaie, Brussels

At each kilometre mark of the 5km Color Run, inspired by the Holi Festival in India, participants are showered with coloured powder so that by the end, they’re wearing a rainbow. A dance party follows the race. Register via the website and read more about the festival here…
3 September 12.00-20.00, Tour & Taxis, Brussels; €35

The Brussels Comic Strip Festival is the biggest celebration of Belgium’s beloved comic strips, from childhood classics like Tintin and Lucky Luke to modern masters creating edgy graphic novels. Meet the publishers and see the artists at work, or browse the booths and exhibitions. And don’t miss the balloon parade and Tintin rally on Sunday. Special this year is a tribute to Belgium’s most loved comic book character, Gaston Lagaffe, who turns 60. The Horta Hall of Bozar will the backdrop for a full-size exhibition on Gaston and there will be a must-see performance (Saturday at 14.00) by musician Max Vandenvorst who creates his own instruments from paper, bicycles, garden objects, household objects, toys, hardware supplies, basically anything he comes across, to perform very funny but very musical concerts. As such he is the perfect person to play a tribute to the mythical Gaffophone.
1-3 September, Bozar and Parc du Cinquantenaire, Brussels; free

The Korean Cultural Centre is presenting the fourth edition of its Belgian-Korean Comics Exhibition, entitled The Spectrum of Blue; La Jeunesse and it features Belgian and Korean artists reacting to the same theme. Concurrently, at the MOOF Museum, an interactive installation of the 10 best Korean webtoons will be on display.
KCC until 21 October, Webtoons at MOOF until 30 September

On the first Sunday of every month it’s the Brussels Vintage Market at Saint-Géry. The best in vintage/second hand designer clothes, accessories, toys, vinyl, and depending on the month, comic books and other printed matter. Indoors and out, midday to 19.00.

In 2017, Berlin and Brussels are celebrating their 25 years as sister cities and Berlin Lab is presenting the German capital on Monday and Tuesday at Halles Saint-Géry. The celebration has a special accent on food as Be Berlin invites Brussels to taste Berlin with a special menu by Berlin master chef Thomas Kammeier. Visitors can enjoy one-of-a-kind ice cream popsicles created by the food artist Science Kitchen or learn more about seaweed in a workshop by the startup Mint. Berlin Lab is also bringing the teledisco, the smallest disco in the world, to Brussels. A photo exhibition will showcase the current and most ambitious Berlin chefs and players of the Berlin food scene. On Tuesday at 18.00, Berlin mayor Michael Müller will give a speech on freedom followed by a Berlin Lab farewell party with music by DJs Joei Iacono und Andy Butler and a show by the Berlin light artist LiCHTPiRATEN.

On Saturday the Order of the Friends of Manneken Pis is holding its annual folkloric party and parade. It starts at 10.00 around the base of the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza statues and will be full of zwanze and beer not to mention moustaches.
Boulevard de l'Imperatrice, Brussels

As part of Mixity 2017, the region has produced 16 Mixity Walks maps to enable locals and visitors alike to discover the “cultural wealth” to be found in the capital’s different neighbourhoods. They don’t necessarily include the big, well-known attractions but concentrate on the many small facets that will enable first-time visitors to successfully immerse themselves, including places to eat. The guides are available in Dutch, English and French for free at the BIP, the tourist office on the Grand-Place and at borough halls.

Magritte is Alive kicks off an autumn cavalcade of shows honouring the surrealist painter on the 50th anniversary of his death. At the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the show concentrates on the many artists that he influenced such as John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Raymond Pettibon and Robert Longo. Also starting on Friday, but in the Magritte Museum itself, is a show devoted to the artistic relationship Magritte had with art critic and writer Marcel Lecomte who was pivotal in the artist's career since he is the one who drew Magritte’s attention to the work of Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico, work which completely changed his outlook on painting.
Until 30 January 2018

In a nice surreal touch, Brussels has two Magritte museums with almost the same name in two very different parts of the city. The original museum is the René Magritte Museum and it’s located in the house in Jette where he lived for 24 years and painted about half of his paintings. In all he made 1,100 paintings, 600 watercolours and created many collages. Of these a number have disappeared. The current show The Lost Magrittes presents 21 paintings, 3 gouaches and 3 objects which the museum says we can now enjoy again due to “years of creative research in the spirit of Magritte.”