Bozar

Musical quartet playing in front of a black background with the words 'how you failed and why'
As part of Cultúr 2026, Bozar, Brussels presents a multidisciplinary programme celebrating the richness and diversity of contemporary Irish artistic practice across music, literature, cinema and digital installation. Bringing together established and emerging voices, the programme reflects a living culture shaped through experimentation, collaboration and exchange, while exploring themes of identity, migration, memory, technology and human connection.

Music and live audiovisual performance form a central strand of the programme. Jennifer Walshe and Philip Venables present the Belgian premiere of The Alonetimes, a new collaborative work examining contemporary relationships and digital communication through fragmented vocal narratives. Sega Bodega brings his immersive live audiovisual performance unadulter8 to Bozar, drawing together electronic music, ambient sound and experimental visual design. A Forbidden Distance by Saint Abdullah, Eomac and Rebecca Salvadori combines sound, film and archive material to explore borders, mediated connection and experiences of displacement.

A special literary event with Maggie O’Farrell offers audiences the opportunity to engage with one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary fiction, while cinema and moving image feature prominently throughout the programme. Gerard Byrne presents a screening programme and artist talk examining his multidisciplinary practice across film, photography and publishing. A major three-day Close-up dedicated to filmmaker and artist Vivienne Dick traces her work from New York’s No Wave movement to her later films made in Ireland and Europe.

The programme also includes a new digital installation by Basil Al-Rawi, extending the dialogue between technology, contemporary culture and artistic practice.

Together, the programme at Bozar highlights the breadth of contemporary Irish culture and its ongoing dialogue with Europe through artistic exchange, collaboration and shared experience.