Exhibitions in Brussels
October 2026
October 2026 at a glance: 13 exhibitions opened, 0 closed, and 11 more were on view across the city.
Opened in October
Jean Brusselmans: Painter by Nature2 OctBOZAR - Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts)
Retrospective of the Belgian painter (1884-1953), about 120 works and his reconstructed 1936 sets for Schoenberg's Erwartung.
Tapta meets Judd6 OctRoyal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Old Masters Museum and Modern Museum)
Belgian sculptor Tapta and American minimalist Donald Judd, both working with industrial materials, face each other in the modern and contemporary rooms.
Mayhem at the Workshop!9 OctBelgian Comic Strip Center
Work by ESA Saint-Luc Master's students, made during a five-month residency at the museum's Maison Marc Sleen.
- Kurt Peiser and the Marolles13 Oct
Museum of the City of Brussels (Maison du Roi)
Around thirty works showing everyday life and the history of the Marolles district in the interwar period.
House of Memory by Basil Al-Rawi14 OctBOZAR - Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts)
A 15-minute VR journey turning Iraq Photo Archive photographs and oral testimonies into a virtual space. Ages 12 and up.
Edith Dekyndt x Cristóbal Balenciaga: The Fabric Decides14 OctBOZAR - Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts)
Edith Dekyndt's work set against rarely seen Balenciaga archives, on how materials hold memory.
- Identita: The Story of Czech Graphic Design16 Oct
Design Museum Brussels
A century of Czech and Czechoslovak graphic design, from posters and books to logos and national symbols.
Inuit – Impressions of the Canadian Far North16 OctArt & History Museum
Nearly 250 prints, sculptures and drawings from Nunavut and Nunavik, spanning about 70 years, from shamanism to climate change.
Mangatopia. 30 Years of Manga from Kana!16 OctBelgian Comic Strip Center
Marks 30 years of manga publisher Kana with original artworks, some never shown outside Japan, for fans and newcomers alike.
Animazing16 OctMuseum of Natural Sciences (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences)
Stories of 78 animals and their unusual abilities, from a photosynthesising sea slug to an acrobatic spider monkey.
Soleil Noir22 OctBoghossian Foundation - Villa Empain
Nearly one hundred works by Belgian artists across 130 years, centred on more than thirty works by Léon Spilliaert.
FRAGMENTS24 OctAfricaMuseum (Royal Museum for Central Africa)
Photographer Maggy Dago presents ten portraits of Afro-European women with personal testimonies on racism and sexism, framed as a femmage.
- Portia Zvavahera: Kuzviramba Mamuri31 Oct
WIELS Contemporary Art Centre
Large dream-based paintings and prints by Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera on womanhood, grief and care. Curated by Sofia Dati.
Was on view in October
Alone. Not even scared (to be scared!)to 15 NovBelgian Comic Strip Center
Immersive show on the Alone series by Fabien Vehlmann and Bruno Gazzotti, which turns 20, with colours by Usagi.
- Ali Cherri: Soul Witnessto 3 Jan 2027
WIELS Contemporary Art Centre
First major gathering of Ali Cherri's work: film, sculpture, watercolour and installation on how state, army and museum write history. Includes the new film The Sentinel.
- Art nouveau versus Art Déco? 1850–1950: a century in 31 seatsto 9 Jan 2027
Horta Museum
31 chairs by Horta, Van de Velde, Le Corbusier and Breuer set Art Nouveau against Art Deco, plus La Cambre student seat prototypes.
Shape of absenceto 24 Jan 2027Boghossian Foundation - Villa Empain
Hrair Sarkissian's installation Stolen Past, on artefacts lost from Raqqa's museum, set against Iconem's immersive images of Palmyra.
- Supply Chainto 3 Feb 2027
Atomium
Romain Tardy's installation in Sphere I3+ shows the invisible material and industrial structures behind everyday technologies.
William Kentridge: I am not me, the horse is not mineto 7 Mar 2027BOZAR - Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts)
Solo overview of Kentridge's work from the early 1980s to today: drawings, animated films, sculpture, prints, installations and stage productions.
- Nimbusto 7 Mar 2027
Atomium
Visual System's light and sound installation in Sphere I1 turns the Atomium's architecture into a sensory landscape, marking 20 years since its renovation.
- Postcolonial?to 14 Mar 2027
House of European HistoryFree
Examines Europe's colonial legacy in four sections, with eight personal stories, 195 historical objects and 25 contemporary artworks.
Room 54: Recent acquisitionsto 9 May 2027Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Old Masters Museum and Modern Museum)
Recent modern and contemporary acquisitions, including Liliane Vertessen, Thomas Houseago, Chéri Samba and Thomas Verstraeten.
Still the Rhythmto 30 May 2027AfricaMuseum (Royal Museum for Central Africa)
Installation by sculptor and spoken word artist Dieex Bitegets in the AFROPEA gallery, pairing plaster and bronze sculptures with poetry.
Sculpture Trail (Drohme x Boghossian Foundation)to 1 Sept 2029Boghossian Foundation - Villa EmpainFree
Outdoor trail in Drohme Park, on the former Uccle-Boitsfort racecourse, with works lent from the Foundation's collection.
Image credits
16
- Jean Brusselmans: Painter by NatureJean Brusselmans, Still Life with Slices of Smoked Sausage, 1936, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Flemish Community). Photo: Hugo Maertens
- Tapta meets JuddDonald Judd, Untitled, © Judd Foundation / SABAM Belgium; Tapta, Découper/assembler/appuyer, n.d., Maurice Verbaet Collection. Photo: Cathy Christiaen (LAAC Dunkirk, 2022)
- Mayhem at the Workshop!Courtesy of Belgian Comic Strip Center
- House of Memory by Basil Al-Rawi© House of Memory - Basil Al-Rawi
- Edith Dekyndt x Cristóbal Balenciaga: The Fabric Decides© Pierre Henri Leman
- Inuit – Impressions of the Canadian Far NorthCourtesy of Art & History Museum
- Mangatopia. 30 Years of Manga from Kana!© Inio Asano
- AnimazingCourtesy of Museum of Natural Sciences (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences)
- Soleil NoirLéon Spilliaert, La courbe de la Digue, 1907 (detail). Private collection
- FRAGMENTSCourtesy of AfricaMuseum (Royal Museum for Central Africa)
- Alone. Not even scared (to be scared!)Courtesy of Belgian Comic Strip Center
- Shape of absenceCourtesy of Boghossian Foundation - Villa Empain
- William Kentridge: I am not me, the horse is not mineWilliam Kentridge, Still from Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot, Episode 5: As If, 2024. © William Kentridge, DACS 2024, courtesy the artist, Goodman Gallery, Galleria Lia Rumma and Hauser & Wirth
- Room 54: Recent acquisitionsThomas Verstraeten, Urbi et Orbi – Model, 2024, The Art Brussels Discovery Acquisition Prize 2025 with the support of Moleskine, Courtesy Fred & Ferry ©Wannes Cré
- Still the RhythmCourtesy of AfricaMuseum (Royal Museum for Central Africa)
- Sculpture Trail (Drohme x Boghossian Foundation)© Drohme Park
Stay in the loop on Brussels
A short note now and then when something new opens worth your time.