28 may 2025, Flor Linckens
Antwerp Art Weekend 2025
From 29 May to 1 June, the eleventh edition of Antwerp Art Weekend will take place. Spread across more than 70 locations, the city hosts a four-day programme of exhibitions, performances, tours and events. Galleries, museums and artist-run spaces open their doors, from established institutions to emerging initiatives. Whether you follow a planned route or simply explore along the way, this is the moment to discover Antwerp’s vibrant art scene. Visitors can stop by the HQ at M HKA for practical information, route maps and a limited edition Antwerp Art Weekend tote bag, designed by Vrints-Kolsteren in collaboration with Arte. The full programme and an interactive map are available on the Antwerp Art Weekend website.
Below, we highlight ten locations, ranging from conceptual to painterly and everything in between. These galleries take part in the programme with a variety of solo and group exhibitions, presenting new work by emerging voices alongside presentations by established artists.
Shoobil presents the group exhibition 'Daytripper', featuring works by Bart Vandevijvere, Catharina Hell, Elvis Borrey and Frank JMA Castelyns. What does it mean to be a daytripper? Someone who sets out without a fixed plan, open to the unexpected and receptive to new impressions along the way. This exhibition brings together four artists who each wander through thoughts, images and memories in their own distinctive way. Yves Joris wrote about the exhibition here. In addition, the gallery presents the sculpture "Give me Shelter" in the Zuidpark, near the Museumstraat and M HKA. The work reflects on ideas of protection, boundaries and fragility.
In the solo exhibition 'Early Morning in the Universe' at PONTI, Daems van Remoortere focuses on the solar maximum, an astronomical turning point set to occur in July 2025, which serves as the starting point for a reflection on power, historiography and the possibility of a cosmic reset. The exhibition runs until 5 July 2025 and coincides with this rare moment when the sun's magnetic field reverses.
Rik Rosseels Gallery presents two exhibitions during (and after) Antwerp Art Weekend. At the KAAI location, a solo exhibition by Tom Woestenborghs is on view (read a review by Yves Joris here) while their space on Leopold De Waelstraat hosts a group show featuring one selected artwork by each of the gallery’s seventeen represented artists.
'Pitstop @ Base-Alpha Gallery' is a collaboration between the artist collective Pitstop and Base-Alpha Gallery, bringing together ten artists who briefly intersect in a temporary presentation before continuing on their individual paths.
GalleryViewer editor Emily Van Driessen previously wrote about the exhibition 'Welt am Draht' at FRED&FERRY. On 31 May at 3 PM, artist Devrim Lingnau will present her portfolio book in the gallery, followed by a book presentation by Julla Kroner in conversation with curator and artist Antoine Waterkyn at 16:00.
Eva Steynen Gallery presents 'Tamed animals', the first solo exhibition by Nel Bonte at the gallery. Her sculptures and drawings bring together everyday objects and memories in playful assemblages full of colour, form and gentle humour. On Sunday 1 June at 16:00, the artist will lead a walk and talk through the exhibition.
To mark its fifth anniversary, Coppejans Gallery presents 'Expo 5', a group exhibition that offers not a retrospective but a reflection on the conversations and insights gathered over the past years. Simultaneously, the "SchipperskwARTier" project activates more than ten locations across the Schipperskwartier, with artworks on view in shop windows, stores and even the Coconuts sex cinema. On 1 June, a new edition of the Beuys104 project "Adopt an Oak" takes place, alongside the release of Adriaan Rees’s LP "Sitting on a silent wave" with a live performance. On 31 May, the anniversary is celebrated with a festive performance reception by Studio DO at Falconplein. Tip: sign up for the SchipperskwARTier art festival tour by Manuela Klerkx on Saturday 15 June (2-4 PM).
The exhibition 'Light & Movement' at Callewaert Vanlangendonck Gallery places Belgian pioneers of kinetic and optical art in an international context. Featuring works by artists such as Walter Leblanc, Jef Verheyen, Pol Bury and Fred Eerdekens, the show explores how light, movement and perception are approached through torsion, shadow, rhythm and reflection. Archival material and international references are included, along with a tribute to Jan Dries, born exactly one hundred years ago.
During Antwerp Art Weekend, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde presents three solo exhibitions. In 'BLOOD', Klaas Rommelaere shows textile works that explore the strength of family ties and generational transmission, with the kitchen table as a central motif. In 'IN LIMBO', Folkert De Jong confronts viewers with grotesque, brightly coloured sculptures that disguise themes of decay and mortality in apparent lightness. With 'The Wunderwall', Elias Derboven offers an intimate selection of images that poetically highlight everyday encounters, textures and moments.
InstroomArt is hosted by PLUS-ONE Projects during Antwerp Art Weekend with 'Migration is Normal', a project at the intersection of art, dialogue and gastronomy. Founders Seppe Nobels, Nico Dockx and Charuwan Pauwels collaborate with newcomers who blend culinary traditions with personal stories as a form of connection and integration.
