About

Border Buda is a cultural project focusing on the Buda area, an industrial zone spanning Machelen, Vilvoorde and Brussels. Buda is rife with vacant buildings, roaring trucks, deafening airplanes, disorganised architecture and rampant weeds. It is an industrial grey zone, with a rich history and a great potential. Unfortunately, the area is a blind spot for many residents of the three neighbouring municipalities. Together with a number of artists, the project wants to take a first step towards exploring this area with the aim of turning the gaze back on Buda to make it a meeting place once again.

The first phase of the project focuses on artistic installations in public space. The implementation of the artistic trajectory is the result of a close collaboration between 13 artists and the curators Anna Laganovska and Koi Persyn. Some works are temporary, others permanent, and a few will be installed at a later date. Border Buda’s local partners, firma and Buda Bxl, will realise an intervention linked to their venue. With the sociocultural trajectory Het Be(h)lang van Buda, Border Buda focuses on the fascinating heritage and history of the area.

Border Buda was launched with the inauguration of the artwork Landmarks by Ilke Gers in October 2023. The start for the development of the various trajectories, which will come together during the opening weekend from 26 - 28 April. The Border Buda exhibition can be visited from 26 April to 26 May, but many artworks will stick around longer in the area.

Border Buda will run for three years and is supported by the Flemish Government and the municipalities of Vilvoorde, Brussels and Machelen.

CURATORS

Koi Persyn (°1996, BE) is a curator and writer based in Brussels. He obtained a master’s degree in Fine Arts (2019), followed by a postgraduate degree in Curatorial Studies (2020), both at KASK in Ghent. During his education, Persyn founded a residency programme at Het Paviljoen in Ghent. He participated in the exchange programme with BIDAI in Kanazawa (JP, 2017) and was selected for the Young Curators Program (2019) as a trainee for the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Together with Laila Melchior, Persyn won the Lichen Curatorial Prize 2021 and they carried out their exhibition proposal at Jester (formerly CIAP) in Genk (2022). Persyn is co-curator of Publiek Park, a group exhibition, public programme and publication at Citadelpark, Ghent (2021) and Harmoniepark, Albertpark & Provincietuin, Antwerp (2023). Persyn is a curator at Komplot in Brussels, and the project coördinator of Off the Grid, the residency and presentation platform of Cas-co in Leuven.

Anna Laganovska (°1996, LV) is an independent curator and writer based in Antwerp. She has studied Art History and Theory at the Art Academy of Latvia, Riga and Cultural Studies at KU Leuven. In 2022, she completed the post-graduate programme in Curatorial Studies at KASK in Ghent. Anna Laganovska has worked as a curatorial assistant at Frans Masereel Centrum. Her recent curatorial projects include Flowers at Room Temperature, the central exhibition of Antwerp Art Weekend at De Studio, Antwerp (2023), Bodies of Work at Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerp (2022), as well as Publiek Park at Citadelpark, Ghent (2021) and at Harmoniepark, Albertpark & Provincietuin, Antwerp (2023).

TEAM

Project lead: Sarah Demoen
Production coordinator: Lara Claes
Technical team: .The Workshop
Graphic design : Victor Verhelst
Web development : Studio Colibri

About

CURATORS

TEAM

PRESS