As spring begins, NW reopens with a communal gathering celebrating ritual as dance, transformation and dissent.

The entire weekend from 22 to 24 March is dedicated to old and new encounters, film focus programmes, workshops, listening moments, and kitchen stories.

Thanks to the partner programme, there’s much more to experience around Aalst as well. Admission is free, but please register for some of the listed activities.

The new NW is inaugurated with the opening exhibition Ritual in Transfigured Time, named after the 1946 short film of the same name by Maya Deren (Kiev, 1917–New York, 1961). Deren, whose life was driven by a desire for freedom, was a guiding light for us in devising the exhibition and film programme, as well as the principles of our revitalised organisation: dialogue, collaboration, experiment and the breaking down of boundaries.

With the installation Untitledment, Lucile Desamory delves into the ongoing artistic question of emancipation and autonomy. The title alludes to the artist’s desire to create a terrain vague, a serene and fluid space delicately poised between emptiness and an autonomous [removed];

During Club Ritual—A Social Event Choreographed in the Manner of a Dance Carola Caggiano & Lucile Desamory will perform hits by Dalida, Mina, old polish cabaret songs and Schubert Lieder. With or without microphones they wander through these well-known melodies which serve as vessels for [removed];

In 1974, the town of Aalst’s Centrum voor Samenlevings Vernieuwing (‘Centre for Societal Renewal’) sprang to life. Back then, the centre, from which NW later emerged, hosted a wide range of organisations and voices with the goal of collectively thinking about society’s complexities and envisioning alternative future [removed];At the heart of the centre was the Info~Angel group.

Unfolding over the opening weekend of Ritual in Transfigured Time, research and curatorial collective Counter Encounters (Onyeka Igwe, Laura Huertas Millán, Rachael Rakes) present a set of programmes interacting in multiple modes with the works on view and the overall prompt for the exhibition. The four programmes include several film and video works from various eras, contexts, and in various styles. In addition, there will be a lecture-screening-discussion with Brazilian, Paris-based artist Ana Pi, whose performances and films are often deep engagements and dialogues with Deren’s work, but created in an entirely distinctive language, politics, and form.
 

During the renovation of NW, the emphasis was on creating a central space for cooking. The open kitchen is a shared space, linked to everything happening in the building and the community in and around NW. The open kitchen brings people together, each with their own [removed];

NW presents the latest and most remarkable arthouse cinema. Serving as the sole arthouse cinema in the Dender region, our cinema consistently offers thoughtfully co-curated lineup of films.

We open our doors amid a period of worldwide turmoil. Grappling with how to navigate world events lies at the heart of our programme. As an open space, you’re invited anytime, whether you have a question or simply want to chat.