Part of this year's OFF program is Archipel, an artist-managed workplace in an urban development area in Antwerp North. Since the summer of 2023, Archipel has moved to its new location in the former ENGIE building. This site is currently occupied by 30 artists with various profiles, who are setting up their temporary workplace there.

During the Antwerp Art Weekend, Archipel opens their permanent gallery space at this new location, where monthly exhibitions will be shown. Expect a series of multi-disciplinary, site specific and eclectic works by Archipel’s old and new members, exhibited at the former ENGIE site and on the shore.

Additionally, they present K.A.D.E. (Kunst Aan Den Engie), a group exhibition at the former ENGIE site at the Lobroekdok in Antwerp North. The theme of the exhibition arose from the physical condition of the place, which is located along the old port, a brick bank strip on the dock. The dock was an anchorage, loading or unloading place, from which one departs and to which one returns. A zone for trade and a crossroads where all kinds of goods and people from different regions cross and meet each other. The waterfront is what brings us together.

QueenSeeds is a funkpop improduo Patries Wichers voice and soundscapes and Caroline De Meyer on bassguitar. They will perform an improvisation as a ritual to honour the transformation of the space.

The performance takes place on:
Sunday May 19, from 17:00-18:00

For this project Wa Él invites an unnamed calligrapher to create an original work in virtual space, which will be projected in real time to the audience. The experience blends art, digitalism, choreography, and music to create a unique meditative experience for both artist and audience members alike. All ages welcome.

The performance takes place on:
Friday May 17, from 17:00-19:00
Saturday May 18, from 18:00-20:00

The artist Sara Dandois allows herself to be encapsulated between 2 enormous concrete blocks, between which she remains trapped for three hours.

In Pressed between Concrete she wants to draw attention to her own position as well as that of many other artists. Artists often find workplaces in temporary spaces of urban development projects and construction zones, under occupier contracts, in which they receive little protection. Even though the artistic activities of the temporary occupiers offer all kinds of benefits for the local context, they still have to give way once the project has been developed. Constantly having to anchor in new places, the uncertainty about terms and conditions, negotiations with project developers and the city, the lack of long-term solutions, the need for affordable studio spaces and the support of bottom-up workplaces in these types of construction site zones is the topic. of this work. 'Sometimes it's just heavy'.

The performance takes place on:
Thursday May 16, from 13:00 - 15:00
Friday May 17, from 15:00 - 18:00
Saturday May 18, from 15:00 - 18:00
Sunday May 19, from 15:00 - 18:00

With Robot sapiens Kimbalambala, Precy Numbi transforms himself using scraps, he creates living sculptures through the costume “sorts of contemporary monsters” which become the protagonists of a fiction. These monsters attack the flow of waste that the West directs towards Africa without return, as well as their monopolization of its resources and rare earths. They exist in resonance with ancestral, colonial history and ecofuturism in the count of this performance.

Kimbalambala is a vernacular name in Lingala my original language "vehicle with several costs of repairs or worn out equipment". The armor of the Kimbalambala sapiens robot is made of these carcasses, including their disconnected wires and electronics. Often without electricity, with an intelligence that sublimates misery and lifts them above difficulties. He advances without headlights, without mirrors, without bumpers, without a driving license, without comfort or alarm... just like society and its bad behavior.

The performance takes place on:
Thursday May 16, from 19:00 - 19:30

MAKE A GLASS FLOWER is a workshop by James Lethbridge on basic sculptural flameworking. Participants will learn the basic of heating, separating and bonding glass, in order to construct basic 3D sculptures. Classes are taught in English. Only basic understanding required. Registration is required, click here to register.

The workshop takes place on:
Thursday May 16, from 12:00 - 16:00
Friday May 17, from 12:00 - 16:00
Saturday May 18, from 12:00 - 16:00
Sunday May 19, from 12:00 - 16:00

In this workshop you will learn the basic technique of the "Tiffany Method". At the end of the workshop, you will go home with your own glass butterfly creation. No experience required and all equipment is available in the studio. Click here for more information.

The workshop takes place on:
Thursday May 16, from 13:00 - 17:00
Friday May 17, from 13:00 - 17:00
Saturday May 18, from 13:00 - 17:00
Sunday May 19, from 13:00 - 17:00