5 SHOWS is the Artissima twice-monthly feature that recommends 5 exhibitions not to be missed in various European cities, chosen from the viewpoint of curators and directors of important institutions familiar with the local context. A different way to find guidance in the discovery of contemporary art across borders, with a personal and always up-to-date perspective.
The sixth focus is on Brussels, with a selection by Helena Kritis, chief curator, WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art.
Here are the 5 exhibitions currently on view she has chosen for our readers:
Gülsün Karamustafa. Hollow and Broken: A State of the World
La Loge
Up to 06.04.2025
La Loge presents Hollow and Broken: A State of the World by one of Turkey’s most influential artists, Gülsün Karamustafa. Through her art practice, spanning over fifty years, Karamustafa focuses on topics such as the modernisation of Turkey, uprooting and memory, migration, locality, identity, cultural difference, and gender from an array of perspectives.
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Paulo Nazareth. Patois/Patuá
WIELS
Up to 27.04.2025
With Patois/Patuá, Paulo Nazareth presents a comprehensive retrospective at WIELS, highlighting more than two decades of artistic practice. The exhibition explores two powerful symbols of survival and resilience: patois, a nonstandard dialect spoken by marginalized communities, and patuá, an Afro-Brazilian amulet symbolizing protection and remembrance.
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Phoebe Collings-James. At the end of the small hours
Mendes Wood DM
Up to 12.04.2025
Phoebe Collings-James presents At the end of the small hours, the artist’s first solo show in Brussels. The exhibition showcases diverse ceramic sculptures from distinct series yet connected through an evolving narrative of dreams. The reflection of a constellation of ideas, the works both incite and provoke the viewer to conceptualize, or dream, of possible territories such as those evoked in the poetry of Aimé Césaire, the visual art of Beverly Buchanan, or the music of Barrington Levy, among many guiding influences within the artist’s realm of research and reference.
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When We See Us
Bozar
Up to 10.08.2025
How have artists from Africa and its vast diaspora depicted daily life over the past century? Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, and her team have sought to answer this question with a landmark exhibition. Bozar proudly presents this vast kaleidoscope of Black figurative painting from the 1920s to the present day.
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Monika Stricker. Les rêveries du promeneur solitaire
dépendance
Up to 12.04.2025
The need to verify we are human is becoming more ubiquitous and urgent. Against this cultural backdrop, it is understandable in a non-intuitive way that old-fashioned easel painting remains the dominant form of contemporary art. This has to do, in part, with painting’ s bare all visceral immediacy. Every new support seems to offer itself up as a place for unfettered expression to painters eager to see what they might conjure.
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If you want to discover the cities and institutions explored so far, here are the previous episodes:
Berlin | Athens | Porto | Zurich | Roma
