Brussels’ leading cultural centre – BOZAR – is set to host the ASEM Cultural Festival, titled ‘Europe meets Asia, Asia meets Europe’ highlighting the creativity of Asian and European artists. A diverse programme on the themes of connectivity and heritage will illuminate BOZAR in myriad shades of artistic excellence.
Over a two-week period, audiences in Brussels got to experience an eclectic mix of music, dance and theatre performances along with visual and photography exhibitions, and film screenings. A specially commissioned digital and music performance under the artistic direction of renowned Belgian visual artist, Honoré d’O supported by Sun*Sun*Sun String Orchestra, Nadlada Thamtanakom & Liu Fang will open the festival on 18 October 2018. A lively conversation can be expected at the public forum featuring Pritzker Prize-winning architect, Wang Shu (China), and celebrated Flemish architect, Paul Robbrecht on 22 October 2018.
BOZAR opens the doors to a new venue, Salon Europa, for a special series of concerts. Award-winning baritone from Mongolia, Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar and Russia’s leading organist, Svetlana Berezhnaya are the highlights of this series. Cambodia’s dance of prayer ‘tayae’ and India’s classical theatre form ‘kathakali’ will offer a taste of traditional arts from Asia. Widely reputed Thai dancer and choreographer, Pichet Klunchun, will present ‘I am a Demon,’ a technically impeccable khon dance piece infused with contemporary and post-modern choreography. ‘Meet the Millennials’, a performance by Lucas De Man (the Netherlands) and Hyunsin Kim (Republic of Korea) explores new narratives of Asia’s millennial generation. The festival also showcases films from China, France, and Japan.
The full festival programme is available on BOZAR’s website: www.bozar.be.