Participatory art practices in Flanders and Brussels: An up-to-date overview

Participation: Going beyond the definition battle

In publications by Flanders Arts Institute itself as well as in an extensive dossier in the cultural critical magazine rekto:verso, an attempt was made to clarify the institutional confusion concerning what the Arts Decree actually meant by the term ‘participation’. Quite a few authors came to the conclusion that this confusion was mainly institutional, in terms of eligibility for subsidies, while in reality the words artists or art organisations used to describe their practice in terms of multidisciplinary working methods, methodologies and processes did not seem so crucial. With the text Pleidooi voor onzuiverheid [Plea for impurity], Flanders Arts Institute also tried to take the sting out of the battle of definitions, by stating that a multitude of practices lies hidden beneath the many definitions, and that any attempt to ‘essentialise’ the term participation risks ignoring its added social value. There is no ‘canon of participation’, no tradition, no great generation to look up to – participatory art practices have to reinvent themselves in every context.

At the same time, the cliché lurks that ‘everything is participation, and participation is everything’ – which minimises and levels the real impact of participatory art practices. There are indeed substantive anchors for talking about participatory art practices. More important than nailing down a strict definition is identifying a number of guiding concepts that can serve as a common thread throughout participatory art practices. In the Manifest voor participatieve kunstpraktijken  [Manifesto for Participatory Art Practices] that knowledge centre Demos published in 2015, authors Sandra Trienekens and Wouter Hillaert call these ‘core qualities’. I adopt their classification here:

• Contextual: Art practice is an artistic investigation into a (political) social issue in the context of a – possibly latent – urgency among citizens in order to take control of it themselves. 
• Artistic: The artistic direction is in the hands of an artist who personally commits and skilfully directs imagination, collaboration, form and aesthetics.
• Participatory: The production process involves citizens and relevant parties around a (political) social concern and creates space for an (experimental) remediation of mutual relationships and perceptions. 
• Transformative: The intended result is a challenging artistic production intended for a broad audience, which contains critical reflection and gives rise to new perspectives (for taking action).

In addition, Trienekens and Hillaert also speak of remediation as an inherent feature of participatory art practices: A participatory art practice starts from the participant’s lifeworld and tries to renegotiate the relations with the ‘system world’ – the larger power structures to which the individual is subject. This happens in slow, intensive processes that take time and are indefinite in their artistic outcome or end result, but are charged with enormous emancipatory potential.

The classification of Trienekens and Hillaert is not exclusive or compulsory: many organisations can relate to these ‘core qualities’ in different ways. There is a broad spectrum of nuances between the intrinsically emancipatory power of making art together (as happens, for example, in amateur associations) and explicitly artistic work on a social issue. But with these concepts as a guideline, we can indeed distinguish between participatory art practices and more guiding forms of audience mediation that require a certain level of involvement from an audience, such as interactive works of art, in-depth forms of audience development, audience recruitment, accessibility policy (physical or financial), art in the public space, …

Finally, it remains important to emphasise that the relationship between participatory art practices and ‘mainstream’ art practices is a two-way street. The growing attention for participatory art practices not only testifies to an arts field that wants to reach out more strongly to the world, but gradually – and there is still a long way to go – that same arts field is allowing the world to change its own closed system, to direct the thinking and actions within organisations, to ask itself again and again what ‘the artistic’ is, and whether the old criteria with which we designate that artistic are not in need of revision. Artist Simon Allemeersch uses the term ‘infiltrate’ for this process, in which he does not try to change the world with art, but allows the world to change him. Infiltration instead of participation – could that be a new term?

Participatory art practices today

The latter – the emphasis on the need for equality – not only creates tension in the power relations between organisations: the notion of ‘shared authorship’ between artist and participants is also a touchstone within participatory art practices themselves. In polarising terms, you could view this spectrum as the tension between two emphases – in the earliest policy texts, Minister Anciaux already noted this contrast as the distinction between ‘participating’ and ‘having a share’. In some practices, the emphasis is more on the authorship and identity of the initiating artist. The participatory process then takes place within existing relationships, is somewhat predictable and results-oriented (a theatre performance, a film, an exhibition, …) and conforms to the traditional definition of quality. At the other end of the spectrum, the emphasis is on the shared authorship of the participants, with the artists allowing themselves to be ‘infiltrated’. Such a process develops outside the usual artistic relationships or definitions of quality and is unpredictable in its outcome (see also this text by Flanders Arts Institute). In the first episode of her series of articles on ‘cultural participation’, journalist Ciska Hoet distinguished as ‘the instrumental approach aimed at removing barriers and guiding people towards the arts’ from the more intensive forms of co-creation: ‘the fundamental participatory approach that aims to combat exclusion.’ Important: at both ends of the spectrum, artistic necessity drives that process, only the degree of involvement and participation differs. 

Today, in many practices, an intense shift is emerging from participation to sharing, or: from allowing non-professionals into artistic practices to developing a practice in which participants are actively involved in shaping the artistic process itself. In the same movement, the view of fixed and well-defined methodologies has also evolved in recent years towards more open forms of ‘learning’ or ‘being together’, in which the focus is not so much on concrete artistic output or even a process, but rather on cultivating a form of interaction. Or as a coordinator of a participatory organisation summarised this flexible approach: not methodologies, but attitude. Quite a few artists nowadays start working from that ‘attitude’, often outside the frameworks of the traditional institutions or even outside the radius of the historically participatory organisations. They elevate the quality requirement of ‘context-oriented work’ to the foundation of their artistic thinking. They settle in residential areas, move into care institutions or establish themselves in villages, where they remain for long periods of time. They develop their artistic practice there and look for an alibi to involve residents, patients or passers-by – for example, they formulate their own ‘request for help’. Based on a clear artistic ambition, they primarily build relationships – some therefore prefer the term ‘relational practices’ – with players who are located both outside and inside the arts field. They do not specifically concern themselves with well-defined target groups, but with the connections possible within the location of their practice. The question becomes not ‘What do you need?’ but rather ‘What can we do here together?’

Some build a wooden stage between the residential towers. Others open a soup bar or a studio. Still others stand on a square with two broken mopeds. But the age-old question of whether this work is ‘artistic’, or whether what these artists make is ‘art’ or ‘social work’, has been answered – the dilemma has been resolved in a new view of the social as an inherent part of the artistic, and the artistic as the potential inherent in the social. In an interview, Marieke De Munck, City & Transition coordinator at VIERNULVIER, puts it this way: “The form of these artistic practices is undeniably social, but the artists and their work are not defined by this social aspect. (…) The relational is inclusive, it is simply part of artistic poetics.”

The famous ‘autonomy principle’ that has been a bone of contention between participatory and mainstream art practices for decades can perhaps finally be buried. In the Trienekens and Hillaert manifesto, it goes like this: “Participatory practice is not ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than other art. Each artistic expression relates to social issues. Each artistic expression can also contribute to this. Only the way in which it is done differs. Some art forms are more abstract and detached, others more involved and participatory. There can therefore be no question of a ranking. Participatory art practices have different voices, but the song they sing is equivalent.” It is precisely this insight that opens the way for mainstream art organisations to an updated approach to participatory work, in which goal-oriented and target group-oriented thinking can be abandoned in favour of a more intuitive, immeasurable and perhaps also invisible approach – but one which is no less artistic. 

How is this field sketch structured?

1 – The function of participation under the Arts Decree

It should be clear from all of the above that ‘participation’ is a difficult concept to define. It is not limited to a well-defined discipline, draws resources from subsidy instruments within different policy areas and has very diverse forms of implementation. However, drawing up a field sketch requires a choice to be made regarding the artists and organisations to be highlighted. We initially opted to use a number of objective parameters. 

We first looked at it from the perspective of the Arts Decree. This decree focuses on the professional artists as initiators, with high ambitions in terms of (inter)national prestige, and their artistic necessity as the driving force behind participatory art practices. Central to this is the concept of ‘self-identification’: this concerns individuals and organisations that consider themselves to be ‘artists’ or ‘art organisations’ and submit applications under the Arts Decree because they recognise themselves best within that decree framework. 

Secondly, it concerns individuals or organisations that tick the participation function under the Arts Decree. The interpretation that the Arts Decree gives to participation is clearly broader than what Trienekens and Hillaert describe. In the Arts Decree (Art. 3) it concerns “developing and applying visions, concepts and processes that contribute to the creation of art or a more profound experience of it through active involvement, with attention to social and cultural diversity”. This broad interpretation may (still) give rise to discussion, but the openness can also be seen as an asset: it gives the arts sector a greater opportunity to determine and develop the concept from the bottom up, which can lead to a rich and diverse ‘participation landscape’. The often criticised ‘vagueness’ also reflects a confidence in the independent power of arts organisations to undertake multifaceted participatory initiatives. 

The third parameter is continuity: We looked at participatory activities with a certain level of sustainability, rather than one-off participatory projects. In addition to all structural activities that (at least) were submitted for the ‘participation’ function, we also included all organisations and artists that were able to realise a project at least twice. 

2 – Participatory activities outside the Arts Decree

Of course, with these parameters (submission under the Arts Decree, with the participation function ticked) we only capture a portion of the participatory practices tout court. We would like to mention some striking examples of participatory practices that, due to these objective parameters, fall outside the scope of this field sketch.

On the one hand, there are organisations that receive subsidies for other functions under the Arts Decree, but despite a clear participatory ‘attitude’ do not formally identify themselves as performing participatory activities as described in the Arts Decree. Het Bos in Antwerp and de Koer in Ghent are examples of such organisations: they function participatively at an organisational level (they adhere to the principles of cultural democracy) rather than developing well-defined participatory art practices. We also see that more organisations are striving for a fruitful interaction between participatory art practices and organisational models – the installation of a Young Board at VIERNULVIER is a good example of this. 

On the other hand, there are many activities or projects that are also involved with art but do not request or receive resources from the Arts Decree. They are embedded in another Flemish decree: the Supra-local Culture Decree (ECRU Culture in Limburg), the Circus Decree (with a strong segment of youth circus activities) or the projects that were submitted until recently via the Participation Decree, in which the municipalities took on the management role. Some organisations are subsidised by name (Theater Stap) or draw resources from another domain, for example cultural education associations such as LARF!, Passerelle ordas Kunst (youth), Toestand, Cinemaximiliaan and WISPER (socio-cultural Work) and Zinnema (amateur arts), Villa Voortman (well-being) or certain projects that originate from the universities (education).

3 – The invisible nomadic artist

In putting together the puzzle we encountered a problem. The names of the individual artists who develop participatory art practices without being permanently affiliated with an arts centre (we will refer to them as ‘nomadic’ artists in what follows) appeared to ‘disappear’ in the figures behind the organisations that are their grant recipients in subsidy applications – while they needed to be explicitly mentioned as important players in this field. It proved impossible based on the data to draw up a complete list of these artists with a structural or project-based participatory art practice. In this field sketch we have identified a group of artists with a strong participatory emphasis in their artistic practices.

4 – Self-identification

We are aware that this text is imperfect and perhaps even limiting, as it is primarily based on the perspective of the Arts Decree. For this reason, artists and organisations who felt they belonged in this field sketch were given the opportunity to have their profiles added – the last revision of this took place in December 2024.

5 – Timeframe

We applied all of the above parameters to the period from 2017 to 2022, in order to arrive at a sketch that is as up-to-date as possible. For the most recent figures and amounts for this period, we refer to this analysis.

Geographic clustering

Within the list of organisations that emerged in this way, we then created a geographic cluster – roughly based on the provinces – that bundles the presence of different forms of participatory art practices within a particular area. The reason for this geographic approach lies in the evolution we described above: in recent years, ‘working on location’ has gained importance within the arts. Participatory art practices have never travelled much because they are organically connected to an often-local group of participants; but today they seem to be ‘grounding’ themselves more than ever. They often do this in or around a large(r) city, based on the observation that the city is the focal point where current issues surrounding coexistence are most acute. This desire for local anchoring does not make it easy for a significant number of participatory art practices to identify themselves within an internationally oriented decree such as the Arts Decree. We treated the nomadic artists, who build their practices independent of a specific region, as a separate category.

In this listing and classification we have avoided making value judgements about the ‘quality’ of the implementation of participatory art practices, with the nuance that the organisations that focus solely on the participation function are considered the ‘core players’ of the region (often, but not exclusively, these are the socio-artistic or art education ‘pioneers’), while the organisations that fulfil multiple functions are positioned somewhat further away from this participatory core. The field sketch thus unfolds as a collection of concentric circles that form a negative of the way in which the arts sector is often (mentally) depicted. At the core, as ‘lighthouses’ of participatory work, are often the smaller and more local operations, while the large art institutions, which traditionally carry the most weight, are often located in the outer circles.

However, this is not always the case, because an important observation when drawing up this field sketch is that a number of these art institutions have made great strides in their relationship to the mandatory function of participation. In 2016, the analysis of Ciska Hoet was very clear: “(Then Minister of Culture) Gatz considered the art institutions as lighthouses for the entire field, and also subsidised them better than the rest. But regarding participation, they were far from ready. (…) Several structures with large budgets tend to see participation as something external, something that should not affect the High Art produced in-house.” In 2023 – for the second structural policy round for art institutions in which they had to relate to the participation function – we see that some of these lighthouses had indeed made efforts to intensify relations with society – through intermediaries, partnerships with smaller arts organisations or directly in their own in-house activities, by appointing a ‘participation coordinator’ or ‘community manager’. It is now mainly the organisations that for the first time are ticking the box for this function – often former arts centres with a ten-year engagement – that are struggling with how to implement participation, especially in a financially precarious context. It takes time for houses with a strong production or presentation logic to give participation a prominent place within their operations. 

The field sketch in 2024

East Flanders

• In East Flanders, Ghent is home to two core players that historically engage in ‘socio-artistic’ activities. Bij’ De Vieze Gasten has been a neighbourhood venue with an artistic function since the beginning of the century, deeply rooted in the Brugse Poort district. It brings together artists and local residents in both long-term projects (the Propere Fanfare, photo collective Fixatief) and one-off projects. The artistic production includes various disciplines and takes diverse forms (a festival, a parade, …) depending on the needs and developments in the neighbourhood. In their theatre, Bij’ De Vieze Gasten presents wide-ranging programmes that are accessible to a broad audience: music, (youth) theatre and comedy, tailored to the tastes of the diverse neighbourhood.
• A second core player is Victoria Deluxe, recently located in the harbour area of Dok-Noord. Victoria Deluxe calls itself a social and artistic home for ‘storytellers’, and under that name it bundles a number of initiatives in which it lets the voices of diverse participants be heard – with a focus on ‘unheard’ voices and a strong emphasis on activities for youth. Thus YOUnited9000 is a breeding ground for youth and often unseen (stage) talent, and the Toekomstacademie brings together a group of young people around cultural and social activities. The productions of Victoria Deluxe are not limited to the performing arts, but can take the form of an exhibition, a publication, an intervention, … in which the exchange between artist and participants is always central. Victoria Deluxe opts for an explicitly socially critical approach in all its projects: an analysis of social systems and imagining a more just future are often recurring themes.

• A third player that focuses exclusively on participation is aifoon, which operates at the intersection of sound art, the performing arts and architecture. Central to aifoon is not the virtuosity of the artist, but the listening experience of the participant. This experience is sought in theatres, but also in classrooms, in prisons or in public spaces. Listening is fundamentally a social process, context-driven and boundlessly connecting languages and cultures. The artistic research of sound artist Stijn Dickel and related artists takes place in close co-creation with participants and with partners from welfare, education, urban development and philosophy. This research can result in a stage performance, but also in an installation, a walk, an online sound bank, a ritual, …  Despite the loss of operating subsidies in 2023, it would be a mistake to overlook Manoeuvre. Manoeuvre is a textile studio where artists and diverse communities meet to exchange (non-Western) textile techniques and knowledge about related crafts. This slow, visual practice results in physical objects such as mats, handkerchiefs, textile books, … but also in connecting narratives that are presented in performative practices. In addition to its location on Bomastraat, Manoeuvre also travels to other artistic and craft locations in the city. The organisation currently continues to work with project resources and with the support of mainly Ghent arts partners.

• Among the organisations that take on multiple functions, two relatively new players stand out. Jong Gewei is a platform that focuses on the development of the artistic potential of people aged 16 and over who do not find their way to the arts via the usual paths. Jong Gewei aims to see the diversity of the street on stage and give new voices the opportunity to grow, especially if these are socially vulnerable voices. The basic activities of Jong Gewei are collective: through joint discussions, workshops, theatre visits and under the guidance of professional makers, everyone finds their own way. For those who want to grow professionally, individual development paths are examined. The organisation of Jong Gewei itself is strongly driven from the bottom up: the youth help determine the themes and the approach. Platform-K is a dance workshop in Flanders for dancers with disabilities. Platform-K offers talented dancers with disabilities a contemporary dance education and prepares them for residencies, productions and creative processes with choreographers. In addition to this ‘company’ of relatively permanent dancers, there are also low-threshold dance courses for a wide audience of interested parties. However, the importance of Platform-K cannot be reduced to its ‘output’ in terms of production and education. The organisation also actively takes on the role of motivator of conversation within the ‘mainstream’ dance field, by investigating how dancers with disabilities can have a fundamental influence on the world of contemporary dance. In Brussels, Platform-K has developed an intensive collaboration with dance school P.A.R.T.S.

• A historically rooted player in Ghent is De Centrale, which developed in the 1990s from an ‘intercultural meeting centre’ in the (diverse Sluizeken-Tolhuis-Ham) neighbourhood into a popular venue for music and the performing arts. De Centrale focuses on music ateliers (for children and adults), workshops and a programme of musical genres and traditions that reflect the diversity of the neighbourhood. It also builds bridges between Western and non-Western forms of the performing arts in its programming.
  Creative venue KOPERGIETERY, which focuses on a young audience, has been organising theatre workshops for children and youth, supervised by professional makers, since its inception in the 1980s. Since 2009, in addition to its location on Blekerijstraat, the house also has a second location in the diverse Rabot district, where theatre workshops are organised with and for children and youth from the neighbourhood. The connection with Freinet School Mandala and social restaurant ‘t Toreke, both located in the same building, means that the activities of Rabot are firmly anchored in the neighbourhood. The theatre is widely used by neighbourhood organisations, including a weekly singing workshop for children.
  Ghent city theatre NTGent has just started a new story. Artistic director Milo Rau passed the baton to Barbara Raes, Yves Degryse and Melih Gençboyaci in October 2023. Under Rau, participatory practices were mainly embedded in a production logic through so-called people’s projects, in which the director worked with a mixed cast of professional and non-professional actors. Raes, Degryse and Gençboyaci, who will effectively take the lead in the 25-26 season, are using a new approach and want to ‘reclaim’ the city as an important space for movement and playground activities in addition to the theatre/stage. Via an artistic line centred around care, rituals and digital technology, NTGent aims to bring together diverse makers, audiences, languages and bodies. At the internationally oriented CAMPO, which focuses primarily on production, development and presentation, the Buurtkeuken (a neighbourhood dinner with an artistic aspect) is the main framework for fulfilling the participation function. 

• Ghent art institution VIERNULVIER fulfils the participation function in various ways.  On the one hand, by literally bringing participatory art practices in-house (Jong Gewei and Platform-K are organisations in residence), but also through strongly participatory co-programming in collaboration with specific communities (the crip movement, the queer community) and very diverse guest curators. On the other hand, there is the artistic line centred around the ‘City Atelier’, in which VIERNULVIER supports a group of artists and organisations (including Manoeuvre) in developing slow, grounded practices in the city.

West Flanders

• De Figuranten, based in the station area of Menen, grew out of social work in South-West Flanders, but has developed into an autonomous theatre company. The beating heart is the open theatre atelier where weekly rehearsals for a performance take place. On the one hand, De Figuranten engages professional guest directors and on the other hand enters into partnerships with psychiatric centres, schools and other partners in the wider region. One of De Figuranten’s trusted partners is De Batterie, a multidisciplinary participatory art practice that works from Bruges, but regularly visits other cities for their long-term projects. Depending on the demand, De Batterie engages a professional artist for the artistic research and links this to a context, often in the field of education or welfare. Children and youth are the primary focus.
  De Unie der Zorgelozen, which originated around theatre director Geert Six, is strongly rooted in the Pluimstraat in Kortrijk and presents stage performances with a now fairly permanent cast of ‘unqualified people’, but there is also a strong emphasis on drawing, writing, photography, painting, … In addition to being a creative venue, ‘cultural community centre’ De Scala is also a ‘hospitable place’ – the coffee chat on Thursday remains a drop-in opportunity for newcomers and the curious. With the biannual magazine De Gazet, written and designed by the participants, De Unie reaches a wide audience in an open and accessible way. De Unie pursues an explicitly socially critical course, with a solidarity-based community being the answer to an individualistic model of society.
  Ostend based kleinVerhaal also has a strong and low-threshold local anchoring, is just as persistent in their social criticism, but focuses with their social mix of participants mainly on film, music and crossover. kleinVerhaal describes its mission as follows: “From the heart of society and through the arts, kleinVerhaal translates, questions and documents the complexity of today’s society in unruly creations and stimulating actions.”
  Finally, in the extensive group of organisations that opted exclusively for the participation function, there is also Wit.h, a Kortrijk player that has placed a specific focus on the rights and visibility of artists with disabilities for more than twenty years. Wit.h combines a strong reflective aspect – discourse formation and debate around art created by people with disabilities – with the organisation of participatory art projects that it calls ‘expeditions’. Some result in a temporary exhibition, other expeditions have a longer life in the form of a rock band, a poetry collective or a publication. Wit.h engages with a broad network of artistic partners that extends far beyond Kortrijk. 

• Within organisations that fulfil multiple functions, Antigone has a long tradition of developing ‘social-artistic’ stage productions. It has embraced this working method for more than twenty years as one of its artistic lines. Under the name ARC, people with diverse backgrounds are professionally guided to a full-fledged production. The house is open to all – everyone can come for a cup of coffee, use the toilet or just take a break for a bit. Recently the disciplinary focus has also blurred: the previous ‘Theater Antigone’ changed its name to ‘Antigone’ in order to step outside the disciplinary limitation of ‘theatre’. MAGMA, a fledgling youth movement (18+), also lives within Antigone and offers a platform to youth.

• Arts Centre BUDA boasts a strong collaboration model and sees itself as a matchmaker in a web of artistic and cross-sectoral partners. Participatory thinking extends from the organisational structure itself to the choice of artists who work co-creatively and the participatory formats aimed at connecting with the public – see the test audience of compañeros, a group of involved Kortrijk residents. BUDA raises participation from the local level to the international level, where knowledge sharing is mainly done through European projects.

• Art Institution Concertgebouw Brugge has evolved from art education activities (for children and youth) to participatory art projects with broader target groups. Since 2023, it has also explicitly looked beyond its own venue, with a strong outreach approach that forms part of the artistic programme.

Flemish Brabant

• Theatre company Compagnie Tartaren brings together vulnerable and professional makers (often in collaboration with cross-sectoral partners from welfare or healthcare) for three productions per year. The company is rooted in two locations: Leuven, and since 2023 also a second creative venue in Genk. In addition to the production processes, Compagnie Tartaren also organises workshops and experimental lab work, participants watch performances together and are involved in the artistic and organisational development of the organisation. MATRIX [New Music Centre] is an arts education centre in Leuven for the development and promotion of new music, in close collaboration with (international) concert life and with a strong knowledge-oriented focus (including through a library managed together with KU Leuven). Reflection is closely linked to participation, because MATRIX mainly aims to increase awareness of new music and to connect with audiences through summer internships, exhibitions, workshops (including for children) and educational material, further training and study days for teachers (in part-time art education).

• STUK fulfils multiple functions and has developed an ambitious participation plan for 2023-2027. Due to the recent and difficult renovation work, this plan (mainly aimed at STEK, a creative co-working space) was delayed, and due to the lower allocation of resources, its future realisation is currently under pressure.

Limburg

• In Limburg Musica Impulscentrum is the lighthouse of participatory art practices with subsidies from the Arts Decree, with a primarily art education and research profile. It focuses on the development, promulgation and promotion of sound and music as an artistic tool and means for social change. Musica Impulscentrum is strongly but not exclusively focused on children and youth (sensory projects, music holidays, …) and works within and outside education. It has a headquarters in Pelt, but the network – both artistic and cross-sectoral partners – extends throughout Flanders and Brussels.

Antwerp

• Three organisations that opted exclusively for the participation function have their roots in arts education practices. De Veerman has a long history of continuously revising and renegotiating the definition of ‘arts education’ in its social and political context: De Veerman is driven by a strong ambition to change society. The arts are the connecting means to ‘dock at different shores of society’ – with individual and collective transformation as goal. Today, art education at De Veerman is understood as art participation, because there is no learning without participation. De Veerman operates without well-defined disciplines, methodologies or target groups: it works in a tailored way based on the needs and requirements of the participants and the artists. It has a broad network of partners in arts organisations, schools and welfare organisations.
  A second strong player from the arts education perspective is Kunst in Zicht, which focuses on the development, support and distribution of arts education projects for (young) children, youth and (to a lesser extent) their supervisors. With their own lifeworld as starting point and under the guidance of professional artists, the participants learn about – but also through – the arts: the aim is not only to sharpen ‘art sensitivity’ but to also develop personal creativity. For adults, Kunst in Zicht develops coaching programmes or educational packages. Kunst in Zicht develops its own projects or designs custom projects, including for major Antwerp art players such as the M HKA and welfare organisations such as the Open Psychiatric Hospital in Geel.
  Amaj has a specific music pedagogical focus: strengthening symphonic culture among children between the ages of four and eighteen. The organisation is rooted in Antwerp but has the ambition to roll out a symphonic youth programme throughout Flanders and Brussels. Amaj developed a trajectory (via music days, camps and orchestras) in which young people can acquire knowledge and skills in an accessible way to develop themselves musically and increase their enjoyment of playing. To this end, Amaj collaborates with part-time arts education as well as with professional symphony orchestras, with a strong focus on parental involvement.

• Tutti Fratelli is one of the historical venues for social-artistic work in the heart of Antwerp. Tutti Fratelli has been making theatre for over twenty years with a mixed group of actors, especially those who have had fewer opportunities in their lives. Professional artists enter into a dialogue with the ‘fratelli’ using words, music, movement and images. The intensive rehearsal processes result in productions that are presented throughout Flanders. With the ‘giovani fratelli’, Tutti Fratelli now also has activities aimed at youth.Art lab Madam Fortuna views art as an important driver for social change. Amateurs and professional artists set up projects across disciplines and traditions. Madam Fortuna is rooted in the diverse Borgerhout district and reaches a very mixed audience in terms of ethnic-cultural background and age. Special attention is paid to talent development among youth. In addition to the Antwerp city projects, Madam Fortuna also has partners in other places in Flanders and is the driving force behind a European network that focuses on Roma culture. Art house Yellow Art was founded within the Open Psychiatric Hospital Geel, but operates outside the therapeutic context. It is a visual arts studio where mentally vulnerable people are given the space to experiment in a professional environment – under the guidance of guest artists – and to create a personal oeuvre. Exhibitions are regularly organised using these works of art.KunstZ as a core player in Antwerp, has been strongly committed for almost twenty years to the artistic development paths of performing artists with a diverse ethnic-cultural background who are still strongly underrepresented in the Flemish performing arts field. The organisation lost structural subsidies in 2023, but still follows the careers of the artists involved as much as possible.

• Within organisations that fulfil multiple functions, Rataplan views itself as a ‘participatory arts centre’ based on the jazz tradition and nourished by the diverse metropolitan context. It is a (jazz) platform where leading artists help to create the programme of jam sessions, concerts, family and school performances. The venue focuses on musical talent development of children and youth, and offers residencies for emerging artists and innovative work. Rataplan is supported by a broad community of artists, audiences, partners, youth and volunteers. In addition to the artistic programming around ‘jazz’ music, there are accessible cultural activities: presentations, talks and food, focused on meeting, connecting and shared stories. Rataplan has strong ties with various cultural and cross-sectoral organisations and is part of a broad local and supra-local network.
  HETGEVOLG in Turnhout is an arts centre – which grew out of a (youth) theatre – in which creation and emancipation go hand in hand, based on the belief that art is an ideal space for inclusion. HETGEVOLG organises theatre productions in which professional artists and participants (often but not always from socially vulnerable groups) work together, starting from the participants’ lifeworld. The location on Otterstraat is an open venue where all are welcome for a cup of coffee or a chat, and thus functions as a ‘drop-in place’ for the theatre group. This group of ‘heart players’ produces their own productions as well as productions at the request of third parties, often in areas such as welfare, healthcare and education. This means that HETGEVOLG’s radius of action extends far beyond Turnhout: the house shares its methods and approach in multi-year projects with partners in other cities.
  hetpaleis is a performing arts centre for a young audience, focused on creation for the main stage. In this creating, ways are sought to not only perform for the young (and often urban) audience, but also to include the voice of that audience in the creative process. This can be done through participatory preliminary research or by working concretely with children and youth on stage. In addition, hetpaleis develops inclusive urban projects around a socially urgent theme. At the heart of the house beats a differentiated art education programme, with workshops during and outside free time, of various intensities and durations. These workshops are supervised by professional artists and are easily accessible to all levels, sometimes with priority rules for socially vulnerable children. Finally, a very mixed group of young ushers work at hetpaleis. They are important as ambassadors but also as antennae for the organisation. Laika is a theatre house of five makers that, in addition to their mainstream productions, has a long history of participation trajectories such as the biennial city festival BLOK-BLOC on the Antwerp Left Bank. From their base in the Borgerhout district, Laika also organises sensory workshops for children from the surrounding primary schools (Theaterstorm). Thanks to a strong international network, participatory trajectories and concepts are not only realised locally, but also shared internationally.
  Theater arsenaal is a theatre house with various makers and collectives under its wings, located in the heart of Mechelen. In recent years, it has developed a strong anchoring in the city through participatory urban projects in collaboration with municipal partners, and today it focuses primarily on involving and creating with young people through workshops, at school and during leisure time. Zonzo Compagnie is a nomadic arts centre for music theatre and sound art, with a strong international presence. One of the main export products is an adventurous music festival (BIG BANG) that is now being rolled out in numerous countries. Each festival works towards a participatory art project with local artists and a group of children whose contact with culture is not self-evident. Within the international production house Muziektheater Transparant, TRANSLAB forms the participatory component: under the guidance of a diverse team of artists, a group of young singers and/or musicians creates a full-fledged artistic production once a year.
  The Antwerp city theatre Toneelhuis takes on the participation function from a more production-oriented logic. In certain productions (such as those by theatre maker Thomas Verstraeten), there is collaboration with non-professional participants or the house goes beyond the walls of the theatre and into the city. The Mechelen arts centre nona aims to develop two participatory art projects per policy period under the heading STAMPPOT, led by theatre maker Maja Westerveld.  

• The three Antwerp art institutions are required to include the participation function and use different approaches to this end.
  The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is an international orchestra based in Antwerp. It has a strong focus on outreach to groups that have less easy access to classical music, including through a low threshold youth orchestra that plays its own creations (Re-Mix Orchestra), a children’s orchestra in a number of primary schools and a mobile orchestra that travels to residential care centres, hospitals, psychiatric institutions and prisons. In collaboration with the Brussels Philharmonic and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, the Youth Orchestra Flanders aims to promote the advancement of young musical talent. In addition to its orchestral activities, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra also organises art education projects inside and outside the school.
  DE SINGEL distinguishes a bottom-up and a top-down aspect in their participatory activities. Each season, the house – together with artists – organises three participatory productions within the disciplines of theatre, dance and music. The artist involved initiates and puts together the group of participants. On the other hand, the ‘creative communities programmer’ approaches various communities, often of unheard voices, with the request to come ‘in-house’ and develop activities, regardless of formats, disciplines or artistic output. The programmer withdraws from the curation process and gives the space to the communities, performing a listening and facilitating role. DE SINGEL makes little use of intermediaries but addresses the communities directly.
  Opera Ballet Vlaanderen gives a productional interpretation to the participation function. Once a season, a co-creative production is set up with non-professionals in close collaboration with partners from the city where Opera Ballet has a branch (Ghent or Antwerp). This creation is part of the work of VONK, a pillar within the opera and ballet activities that focuses on talent development and artistic experimentation. The educational work of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, in a school context, also falls under the heading VONK. 

• A number of organisations are developing participatory art practices with project resources from the Arts Decree, but often with structural support from partners in the arts field. De nieuwe spelers provides preparatory theatre training for youth who want to progress to the professional performing arts circuit. Under the guidance of professional coaches, the training is aimed at a group of motivated youth who are socially and culturally underrepresented in theatre education. During a free annual programme, players receive tools to participate in auditions or entrance exams. Also supported on a project basis is hell-er, a group of professional artists around Katrin Lohmann, which structurally develops art projects in Wing F of the Antwerp prison, in close collaboration with the care team. Results of the collaboration with the detainees include a podcast series, a radio programme and a series of visual arts workshops. Rooftoptiger is an artist collective that builds both performative and participatory installations, with a critical-social approach. The installations, at the border of performance and the visual arts, are site-specific scenographies in which visitors are stimulated to take action and thus become participants. HIRNGESPINST is an artist duo that develops performances, workshops and interventions, often tailored to children (and adults), in the context of a festival or event. With their mobile studio and low threshold approach, they reach a wide audience. 

Brussels

• For Bruxelles Nous Appartient-Brussel Behoort Ons Toe, the capital is the starting and ending point. BNA-BBOT collects and archives the history and memory of Brussels in a participatory way through voices, sounds and stories. The freely accessible, online database of sound material in turn forms the starting point for participatory projects and new creations in collaboration with sound artists. Behind the output of podcasts, auditory documentaries and walks, radio plays, public installations, … there is not only an artistic necessity, but above all the desire to make audible those or that which too often remains silent. 
  ABC (ART BASICS for CHILDREN) is a historical key player in arts education and has been developing ‘creative learning environments’ for decades, both at the ABC house in Schaarbeek and on location. It offers activities for school classes, families, teachers in training, audience mediators, … and always does this in a way that is tailored to the needs of the ‘learner’. ABC therefore works with a range of techniques, disciplines, materials and media. It strives for the development of the ‘poetic life’ of each (young) individual, but also for a stronger integration of art and culture in society.
  The organisation Zinneke started in 2000 with the creation of what would later become the Zinneke Parade: a festive and creative parade that takes place every two years in Brussels and highlights the artistic and socio-cultural wealth of the city. Through a participatory creative process lasting more than a year, participants (artists, organisations and residents) work in various ‘zinnodes’ on a concept that is part of the parade. The initially nomadic organisation has had a production centre in the Masui district since 2021, which means that in addition to preparation of the parade, space is now also available for various activities such as a metal atelier, workshops, residencies, …

• Art House Globe Aroma is a multidisciplinary work and meeting place where artists, co-creators (with and without an artistic background) and art lovers find each other. The organisation was created out of the need to give newcomers the opportunity to develop their artistic ambitions. Today it is a place where artists work, where an annual co-creative trajectory is organised with a broad audience of participants and where, under the heading Art for All, cultural excursions are organised by and for newcomers.
  Recyclart is a bilingual and multidisciplinary arts centre in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek with a strong connection to the social economy through a bar, restaurant and a wood-and-metal workshop. There are concerts, parties, ‘kids workshops’ and activities with a strong urban and socially critical vibe – explicitly aimed at groups of underrepresented citizens such as neighbourhood youth, gender minorities or people in poverty.
  De Nieuwe Opdrachtgevers/The New Patrons starts from the idea that having a work of art created is no longer the privilege of an elite, but is within the reach of all. The New Patrons bridges the gap between (visual) artists and clients. The dialogue is facilitated by a curator or art mediator from the New Patrons. The end result is a custom-made contemporary work of art.
  MUS-E Belgium, based in Brussels but also active in Flanders, develops multidisciplinary artistic trajectories in which artists enter into dialogue with children and youth (sometimes adults) in the context of education, leisure time, the welfare sector or the public space. Many projects are part of long-term collaborations with a broad, cross-sectoral network, and are presented through bilingual notebooks and study days.
  At production house MetX, professional musicians from diverse styles and traditions work with a broad audience of non-professional participants ranging from children/youth to adult enthusiasts. The aim is to achieve ‘hybrid’ music with broad support – a collective urban music identity – in productions of high artistic quality. The City of Brussels with its mix of nationalities and musical traditions is a source of inspiration but also a field of work: MetX productions and events often take to the streets. 

• Just like Jong Gewei in Ghent and MAGMA in Kortrijk, the starting point of TransfoCollect in Brussels is the artistic potential of young people who are often present on the streets, but rarely find their way to the art schools. Founded within the RITCS theatre school and De Kriekelaar community centre, TransfoCollect offers the opportunity for both collective and individual artistic research and meetings with professional (performing) artists. TransfoCollect has biweekly atelier activities in Schaarbeek, but under the name ‘De Beweging’ it occasionally travels to precarious places in the Brussels region to see how art and philosophy can play a meaningful role there.
  For Brussels youth theatre BRONKS, participation is not an ‘assignment’ but a driving force that permeates the entire operation. In the arts education branch for sure (STUDIO BRONKS), but also in the production of theatre for a young audience, BRONKS sees it as their mission to include the thinking of children and youth. In addition to developing performances for a young audience, productions are also made with a cast of children/youth on stage. The atelier activities are divided into short-term and long-term trajectories.
  Dance company Ultima Vez has its own building in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, and for several years now has been developing neighbourhood-oriented activities there in collaboration with local partners (from healthcare, welfare and integration policy) with low-threshold movement workshops and open spaces where residents and artists can meet one another. Ultima Vez also has a long history of organising international productions with professional and non-professional dancers, with a strong focus on intergenerational exchange. At international level, knowledge and methodologies regarding participatory work are exchanged with partners within and outside the cultural sector.
  The Brussels city theatre KVS expands participation along three main lines. Firstly, productions regularly involve non-professionals on stage – or at the very least the distinction between professional and non-professional becomes blurred, because many makers at KVS enter the artistic field from informal networks, rather than through art education programmes. Secondly, KVS supports makers or companies that work participatively, and finally, it enters into partnerships with organisations that focus on participation.
  The participation policy of Kaaitheater has three parts. Under the heading ‘How to Be Many?’, Kaaitheater focuses on participatory audience development that aims for a ‘plural’ audience, which can be read as the desire to diversify and broaden the Kaaitheater audience. Participatory work is implemented here through diverse audience recruitment (target groups, schools, …) and audience activities through interactive context programmes (workshop, party, discussion, etc, …). In a second line, participatory co-creation is organised once a year with non-professionals. Finally, there is the connection with various ‘open source’ partners, where diverse communities are invited to organise the artistic programme. A stronger anchoring in the neighbourhood is being prepared in view of the move after the renovations to Square Sainctelette.
  Dance company Rosas offers weekly dance lessons in Vorst for children aged 4 to 16, under the name Dancing Kids. The company also organises summer workshops for children in collaboration with WIELS, where dance and visual arts come together.
  WIELS is an international arts centre for contemporary art that blends audience mediation with participatory art practices. WIELS focuses on art education activities (WIELS KETS, VEDET, …) but also tries to bring different communities together (from an intersectional perspective) and is the driving force behind Park Poétik, a participatory summer festival in the public space of the Vorst and Sint-Gillis districts.

• For Brussels art institution Ancienne Belgique, participation lies in the collaboration with local participatory partners (such as Globe Aroma and Entree, the umbrella organisation of Brussels youth centres), inclusive projects with and for the city (such as Black History Month Brussels) and specific actions for disadvantaged target groups. AB has recruited a special Music & Community Builder who builds bridges both internally and externally. Through Youth L’AB, a group of Brussels youngsters with a great feel for music, AB also internally keeps its finger on the pulse of a young generation. Brussels Philharmonic is looking for how to fulfil the participation function. On the one hand, it is part of a study by artist Jan Geers and the University of Ghent on the social role of the musician. On the other hand, it develops participatory music projects in schools with the Brussels organisation ReMuA. 

• In Brussels, various community centres and art colleges play an important role as drivers and often also grant recipients for projects with a participatory approach. Among others De Markten, De Zeyp andDe Kriekelaar have initiated various projects that were honoured under the Arts Decree. In addition, several projects in Brussels were awarded to the art studio located on Opperstraat KAOS, which develops art projects with artists who may or may not have a psychological vulnerability. KAOS ignores the distinction between insider and outsider art. It focuses on high-quality artistic results, but also on the de-stigmatisation of artists and people with psychological vulnerabilities.  

Self-identification

Like all field sketches, this one is subject to limitations and revision. In the list below, we gave organisations that distinguish themselves in their participatory work an opportunity to register (until December 2024) and take their place in this overview.

• Het Scheldeoffensief (East Flanders) is a specialised laboratory that identifies, challenges and demonstrates to the public the desire and talent for theatre in (young) adults with and without disabilities.
• The FactorY (Flemish Brabant) is a social artistic visual arts studio for adults. We welcome makers who are looking for a safe place and incentives to grow artistically and develop their own visual language.
• AYU (Limburg) is located at the crossroads of art & welfare, where creativity & connection come together. We create dance productions, co-creations, participation projects and stimulate multidisciplinary collaboration with (inter)national artists. Collaboration is at the heart of our participatory and artistic projects.
• De Spiegel (Antwerp) makes art in all forms for the very youngest (0-4 years). With a mix of music, theatre, images, objects, dance and technology, they invite you to explore new worlds, to look, listen and play differently. De Spiegel stimulates the curiosity, wonder and sense of adventure of children and adults, who look and listen, taste and feel together. They are always looking for new places, unknown sources of inspiration, for the surprising in the recognisable and for what remains and sticks with one.
• Fameus (Antwerp) is the point of contact for anyone who is passionate about art in their spare time. Fameus supports a wide range of art disciplines with advice, space, creative and presentation opportunities, assistance with subsidy applications, … and is accessible to every amateur artist regardless of their background. With GAST, Fameus links amateur artists with gratis free studio or practice space throughout the city. In addition, Fameus helps artists and associations with applications to the Talent Development Fund, a subsidy line for cultural projects in the city of Antwerp for and by amateur artists. Those new to the world of art are also welcome! Fameus collaborates with Atlas (integration and community integration) to guide artists who are new to Antwerp. Together we look for the right place where artists can go to create and show their art. Artistic talent development, encounters, collaboration and great visibility are central.
• DOEK (Antwerp) welcomes textile talent who, through their love for and knowledge of textiles, can play a role as a driver for systemic and sustainable change. We believe in a multiplicity of voices being heard and meeting together as the foundations of our operations and, by extension, of our society. We contribute to this ourselves by researching and developing forms of encounter that allow reciprocity and equality, and encourage the sharing of textile knowledge. An example of their projects is mijn handen zijn niet leeg [my hands are not empty].
• Lasso is the Brussels platform for cultural participation. Lasso connects organisations from the arts and cultural sector with organisations from other sectors, including welfare, youth work and education. To this end, Lasso coordinates and supports diverse experimental projects around art, culture and participation. Lasso links the insights from these projects back to a broad network of organisations. Lasso regularly organises networking activities and provides tailor-made mediation and communication. In this way, they aim to inspire professionals and volunteers from diverse sectors to work together more or differently. In addition, Lasso shares its expertise through consultations, personal guidance and training on art, culture and participation.
• Wethepeople (Antwerp) is a social artistic theatre organisation within which diversity and inclusion in the broadest sense are achieved. WTP stands out because of its intergenerational aspect and the mix of people with and without disabilities, neurodiversity, gender diversity and ethnic-cultural diversity. The group of players is supported by a dynamic team of professional makers. WTP starts from the individual needs of the participants and works in a collective way. WTP is developing a tailor-made working method and is investigating how inclusive working influences artistic choices in order to achieve a professional artistic result.

Nomadic artists

In each of the above-mentioned organisations, it is the artists who form the driving force and develop an artistic practice with a pronounced participatory character. Sometimes they are permanently connected to an organisation or even its founder, sometimes they are only connected to an organisation on a project basis. In addition, there are artists who develop participatory art practices within the framework of other decrees or domains, or under urban or municipal auspices. They are not bound to a place or house, do not start from a decree or discipline, but from an interesting social issue within which they wish to work. They seek the means to do this within the channels that present themselves. This hybrid financing means that they do not appear on our lists. 

Yet it would be strange not to mention these ‘nomadic’ artists, as they are an important part of the broader field of participatory art practices. Knowing that this list is incomplete, we first of all mention the following names of artists with a long-term participatory art practice.

Artists with a participatory approach were invited to be added to this list. The last revision of this list took place in December 2024. For the most recent overview, we to refer you to our database.

Conclusion

If, according to Trienekens and Hillaert, many participatory art practices essentially revolve around the ‘remediation’ between the citizen’s lifeworld and the larger system world, then this participatory field itself has undergone a radical emancipation process over the past ten years, in which the ‘position of power’ within the mainstream art system has been put into motion. It has evolved from a clearly defined field with a limited number of historical core players to a fluid collection of organisations and artists who do not all relate to the concept of participation in the same way. Thinking in terms of target groups and methodologies has been joined by a more intuitive, local and relational practice. The one-way traffic, in which participatory organisations were trapped in a ‘social framework’ that made them dependent on ‘mainstream’ arts organisations, gave way to the insight that there is much to be learned from participatory art practices within all houses. In some cases, a certain participatory ‘attitude’ from the practices themselves flowed through to the functioning of the organisation. And last but not least, the ‘speaking’ shifted: from the ‘socio-artistic’ or ‘art education’ sector to participatory art practices to … infiltration? All this has led to much discussion, but also to a flourishing and diverse arts field in which the potential of participatory arts practices does not seem to have been exhausted yet.

The challenge for the future is to match these developments with policy expectations. Working slowly, in a well-founded and invisible way, remains a difficult exercise in a field that is also supported by decree via concepts such as excellence, measurability, visibility, efficiency and (international) outreach. At the same time, it could be refreshing for the arts field to think differently about these criteria. A concept like ‘excellence’ may have nothing to do with rave press reviews or international awards, but everything to do with a few people who can once again participate in the arts and/or society. What an artist may lose in visibility among a traditional art audience by (also) working outside the usual venues, may at least be compensated for by ‘other’ audiences. ‘International outreach’ in the context of a local participatory art practice can also be understood as knowledge sharing – where organisations across borders exchange their insights, methodologies or approaches to participatory art practices, rather than presenting internationally. And so on… In short: today’s participatory art practices have the potential to turn traditional value chains and associated discourses upside down.