In this exhibition more than 10 artists based in the city of Brussels are invited to reflect upon the question of what constitutes a desirable ‘intelligent’ city in times of digital ubiquity?
Through the work of the artists selected, the exhibition seeks to propose critical and creative visions leading to the conceptualization of more human and original cities in times of technological revolution.
Their visions could be at the origin of the emergence of new paradigms and certainly have the competence to engage and inspire a large participation of policymakers, companies, citizens and activists in the search for brave new cities where all of us feel at home.

Curators: Stephanie Pécourt and Christophe De Jaeger
Partcipating artists: Frederik De Wilde, Christophe De Boeck, Pierre-Jean Giloux, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Youness Baba-Ali, Beat Streuli, Jan De Cock, LAB(au), Annemarie Maes, Joanie Lemercier, Julien Maire

Contemporary cities are magnets that attract people, resources, ideas, opportunities and knowledge. Today, 50% of the world’s population already lives in the city and this percentage will rise to 70% by 2050. For a long time technology has been seen as a solution to the societal challenges posed by increasing migration and urbanization. The discourse around “Smart Cities” and the application of new digital technologies to urban spaces is celebrated world-wide for its ability to increase the wellbeing of citizens, but engagements have mostly been limited to a technocratic focus on energy systems, mobility and building efficiency. The concept of Smart Cities appears as a global incantation. But different experiments worldwide have already proven a variety of difficulties and mostly overlooked psychologic, philosophical, ethical, social and political questions related to digital developments impacting our future cities.

For A Brave New Brussels