During Antwerp Art Weekend, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp opens its doors to the wider art community, presenting a vibrant programme of exhibitions, research projects and student initiatives across the campus.

In the Temple, the exhibition ‘Blooming from Ashes’ brings together works by Fabiola Burgos Labra, Liza Goncharenko, Sina Hensel, Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, Ligia Poplawska and Delphine Wibaux, all artists from the Art & Ecology research group, alongside a project by renowned American eco-artist Brandon Ballengée.

The Student Council hosts its annual ‘Starters Prize’, inviting students from all departments to submit work anonymously. The works are on view in the Lange Zaal, where both a professional jury and the public will award the prize on Wednesday 13 May.

At the Academy’s Mixlab, Mathias Mu presents ‘Tasting Tendrils’, a year-long collaborative programme as part of his ongoing research into digital fabrication with organic and edible materials. The table is central to the group exhibition, where visitors are invited on 15 May to join a public gathering featuring performative culinary interventions, lectures and conversations.

The exhibition ‘FeedBAck’ in the Wintertuin, curated by Guy Bovyn, brings together alumni from the different degree programmes of the Academy. Ligia Poplawska, Arni Jonsson, Manon de Bruyn, Ann Raluca, Hussein Shikha, Grigorios Ilaridis, Sam Beddegenoodts and Witold Vandenbroeck will showcase their current work.

Studio Stadswaag is an ongoing collaboration between the Academy’s ArchiVolt research group and Stadsform. Invited artists BLESS, Luc Deleu, Brandon LaBelle, Emilia Schupp and Rirkrit Tiravanija developed protocol proposals for artistic interventions around the Stadswaag square and for a self-organised space by and for students and alumni.

Throughout the Antwerp Art Weekend, the historic passage between the Stadswaag and the Academy Garden will be open. In the centuries-old garden, visitors encounter the ongoing garden project in which researcher Eline De Clercq works with students to support a living multispecies ecosystem. Along the way, visitors will also discover site-specific works by the master’s students of In Situ, created as part of ‘Art on (Academy) Campus’.

More information on the programme: ap-arts.be/academie

Founded in 1663 by the painter David Teniers the Younger, the Antwerp Academy was one of the first art schools in the world. It is also one of the very first artists’ initiatives. Over the centuries, the Antwerp Academy, with its historic campus, has become an established name in the international art world.

As an active player in Antwerp’s art scene and in collaboration with national and international art institutions and educational organizations, the Academy profiles itself as a hub where students, researchers, external partners and a diverse audience can meet each other in an inspiring international biotope. A great number of exhibitions and events take place within the Academy’s walls as well as in their historical garden, all organized by students, teachers, researchers and external curators or artists’ collectives. Apart from that, the Academy also has an active policy in publishing its artistic research.