Artefact 2026: Opening night

• YouYou Group: Segen
Vocal piece with Zaghrouta (2022)

The YouYou Group is a Brussels-based collective founded by the artist and composer Myriam Van Imschoot. Focusing on the voice - loud and a cappella, without amplification - the female group reveals and transforms a given architectural space. The formal matrix of this work is made up of three main elements: firstly, the 'Zaghrouta', the Arabic name for the high-pitched trills central to the existence of the YouYou Group; secondly, the echoes that linger in the wake of these loud expressions; and thirdly, the ambient sounds that can be heard once the echoes subside. Using these elements, the YouYou Group - and more specifically their smaller ensemble, Segen - will transform the architecture of STUK into a collective, resonating environment for 25 minutes.

• Moni Wespi — Slowed Landscapes
(performance, installation)

“You’re now becoming a stone in between stones. Moving in another timescale.
Take your time, why would you hurry?”

Slowed Landscapes is a performative, participatory, in-situ installation exploring the power of slowness. The proposal is to blend the human body into its environment, to propose a more horizontal relationship between humans and nature. In the STUK Entrance Hall, Swiss-Belgian choreographer, art director and visual designer Moni Wespi created a landscape of stones. Moni Wespi uses fabric prints to design her art, outfits that blend performers and participants into their surroundings — or conversely, the landscape itself becomes a performer. Facing the ever-increasing speed of our daily lives, slowness is a central element of Moni Wespi's visual work, through the practice of micro-movement and stillness. Boundaries blur, connection rises, time slows down, and all that remains is presence. Just being there.

Would you like to watch from afar or join them, and become a stone amongst the other stones for a moment? Can you manage to turn inward amidst the hustle of the Entrance Hall? A stonecoat and an audio track (15min) will set you on your way.

Enjoy the slow ride.

Concept and Visual Creation: Moni Wespi
Performers: Pieter Ampe, Annecharlotte Bisoux
Audio: Pieter Ampe/ François de Saint Georges
Production: Plusieurs
Creation - Partners : In Situ, C-Takt, Zona K, Theater op de Markt, Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles, Cifas, La Bellone

• Clément Vercelletto — L’engoulevent
(performance, concert)

The nightjar, known in French as l'engoulevent, fascinates French musician Clément Vercelletto. This elusive bird only appears at night and is characterised by its distinctive rattling call. This bird inspired Vercelletto's debut album under his own name. Composed entirely on an electronic organ whose original pipes have been replaced by self made attachments that imitate bird calls, L’engoulevent explores sonic landscapes reminiscent of nature and the countryside. Across six compositions, Vercelletto explores sonic landscapes reminiscent of nature and the countryside. Hypnotic polyrhythms, ghostly breaths and folk flutes and bagpipes are all featured. On the opening night of Artefact, Vercelletto will transform the stage of the Soetezaal into an immersive resonating environment.

• Lee Mingwei — Chaque souffle une danse
(performance, installation)

In Lee Mingwei’s Chaque souffle une danse, a series of alabaster slabs with the artist’s ‘breath drawings’ are placed atop of tripod-like stands arranged in a swirling constellation. As the artist developed a practice of breathing exercises to cope with the emotional burden of escalating global discord, he simultaneously developed a practice of ‘breath drawing’, which took place over an extended period of time at dusk: ‘The drawing would emerge from several sustained, contemplative breaths that distributed ink over the surface. Each one thus assumed a distinctive essence, an embodiment of the atmospheric conditions and emotional context inherent at the specific moment of creation.’ During the Artefact Opening night, the installation will be activated in a meditative performance of 30 minutes by lead dancer Aya Sone. Entering the gallery space, she will slowly light the candles which reveal each breath drawing. In a second movement, each light will be taken away again, one candle at a time, until the gallery space is once more veiled in darkness.

• DJs Lina & Mia
(afterparty)

Belgian-Moroccan Lina Ejdaa and Sarajevo-born Mia Prce form a dynamic duo. In addition to their own artistic practices, they are now united behind the turntables, having first come together at De Nor in Antwerp. Expect an eclectic set, ranging from dancehall to electro, dub to baile funk, and Yugo pop to MENA pop.