Live performances, installations that move and a parade with Venus statues

M Leuven and STUK open the new edition of Live Arts Festival Playground

November 23, 2022

From 17 November to 20 November, M Leuven and STUK are for the 16th time organising the Live Arts Festival Playground. This festival is about artists who do not lock themselves into one discipline but like to experiment. This year, STUK is closed for renovation and so all the extraordinary performances and installations will take place within the halls of M and a parade of Venus statues will tour the centre of Leuven.

Denise Vandevoort, alderman for culture and chair of the board of M, explains: "Playground is a place where national and international artists can experiment and think out of the box . This edition is particularly special for me because it is my last one as alderman of culture and chairman of the board of directors of M. I will not just be walking along with the parade on Saturday morning, I will chant too."

Lore Boon, service head of exhibitions and Playground co-curator, adds: "Artists use their own codes in both theatre and visual arts. During Playground, we ask artists to challenge these codes and step outside their comfort zone into this figurative playground. The programme includes premieres and unique performances that will have their Belgian premiere. Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust uses a costume as a music score sheet and lets multiple performers use it to experience their own bodies and their movements differently. Evelien Cammaert translates photographic landscapes into a live installation with image and sound, Peter Morrens in turn brings along an installation called 'PRTXT.'"

"This year's STUK includes a special parade by the artist duo Clédat and Petitpierre. The 'Venus Parade' is a tribute to the Palaeolithic 'Venuses', very small female statues with voluminous body parts. With this parade, the artist duo pays tribute to femininity, motherhood, and sexuality. Six Venus statues will be carried around the Leuven city centre to the musical accompaniment of a choir, musicians and slam poetry. We are in fact still looking for volunteers to carry the sculptures and so whoever feels called can still sign up," adds Steven Vandervelden, general and artistic director at STUK and layground co-curator.

Practical info

Like to join the parade? You can complete the form here. The 'Venus Parade' across Leuven starts at Ladeuzeplein at 11.30am and ends at 12.30pm at the outdoor terrace and garden of M Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28, 3000 Leuven.

More info and tickets at www.playgroundfestival.be. An admission ticket for M gives you access to all the performances, installations and activations. For some performances, we do recommend making a reservation.

Playground is a collaboration between M Leuven and STUK.

Curators: Eva Wittocx, Lore Boon (M Leuven) and Vandervelden(STUK).

The (inter)national performances and installations

Glowachrome Garden | Evelien Cammaert | Premiere | Activations on 17, 18 and 19.11 at M

Evelien Cammaert invites you to discover her 'Glowachrome Garden'. A slide show, performance and sounds come together in a dark space with a slowly but constantly changing scenography. Find out more.

Echo's Bones/Were Turned to Stone | Ana Torfs | Continuous installation at M

In 'Echo's Bones/Were Turned to Stone', visitors are given with headphones and then asked to lie on a hand-knotted woollen carpet designed by Ana Torfs. A female character seems to organise her thoughts in a series of endless associations. Find out more.

Forme(s) de vie | Éric Minh Cuong Castaing | Continuous installation at M

Éric Minh Cuong Castaing devises choreographic situations adapted to the bodies of people losing mobility, due to stroke or neurodegenerative diseases. With their own bodies, dancers support people for whom mobility has become a problem. Find out more.

The Hand, the Eye and It | Hedwig Houben | Continuous installation at M

Hedwig Houben's installation called 'The Hand, the Eye and It' is both a sculpture and the recording of a lecture-performance in which the sculpture plays a central role. Hedwig Houben describes here the complex relationships at play in the creation of a work. Find out more.

Each Moment Presents What Happens | Johanna Billing | Continuously at M

In her films, Johanna Billing explores the evolution of our society through the interaction between people, sometimes staging the exchange. Her project 'Each Moment Presents What Happens' reinterprets the first known happening at Black Mountain College in the US: Untitled Event (Theatre piece number 1, 1952) by John Cage. Find out more.

LaBOLA and Mariachi 17 | La Ribot | Performances on 18 and 19.11 and continuously at M

In addition to La Ribot's performance 'LaBOLA’ in which three performers change clothes and objects in close relationship with the audience, M will also show the video artwork 'Mariachi 17'. The work was created by La Ribot for her choreography 'llámame mariachi' and ties in with her research into choreography and video, which started in 2000. Find out more.

I become them | Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust | Belgian premiere | Performances on 17 and 18.11 at M

Artist Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust approaches the costume as a score, providing the performer with a new sensory perception of their body giving them new ways of moving, expanding, metamorphosing and ultimately resulting in new narratives around the body. Find out more.

Let your body do all the talking #1 | Ruta Butkute | Activations on 17, 18, 19 and 20.11 at M

The installation 'Let your body do all the talking #1' consists of sculptures activated by performer Yurie Umamoto or, in her absence, by the audience. Find out more.

Time is doing | Esther Kläs and Gustavo Gomes | Performance on 17, 18, 19 and 20.11 at M

In their performances, Esther Kläs and Gustavo Gomes explore the themes of pleasure, suspension and, above all, time, a third character in their work. Find out more.

PRTXT | Peter Morrens | Premiere | Performance on 19 and 20.11 at M

'PRTXT.' is a performance in a visual installation that reinforces looking using continuous visual impulses and alternating more intimate moments. Artist Peter Morrens' critical view of our times takes shape in an improvisational and humorous play. Find out more.

Venus Parade | Clédat and Petitpierre | Belgian premiere | Parade through Leuven city centre

The 'Venus Parade' is a unique procession in the public space that seamlessly blends the features of a procession, contemporary sculptures and Venus figurines from the Palaeolithic into a joyous ode to femininity. Find out more.