During the Antwerp Art Weekend, we celebrate the inauguration of the art integration at the newly renovated Stadswaag square. Eight duos of students and alumni from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp designed grates for the trees on the square:

Cristina Esmoris Navarro & Arthur Van de Velde
Justine Grillet & Céline Meulemans
Matthias Hellemans & Maria Sawizki
Bernadette Zdrazil & Elvira Mulkay
Subin Son & Elvis Federico
Ugné Neveckaité & Mitya Proost
Daan van Nunen & Rúnar Örn Jóhönnu Marinósson
Dries Willems & Niel de Vries

Studio Stadswaag
This art integration is the outcome of Studio Stadswaag, a co-creation process between the Academy and Stadsform, shaped through a program of activities in and around the square. As part of this trajectory, the physical Studio Stadswaag was also established — a new space for student initiatives within the Academy. A large gateway connects the space directly to the Stadswaag Square, creating an additional opening in the Academy’s walls.

Academy Open Air
During the Antwerp Art Weekend, the historic passage from the Stadswaag to the Academy Garden will also reopen. In the garden, sculpture students Anna Verbiest & Leandro Munch Jarl Yanez breathe new life into the empty pedestal where a statue of David Teniers once stood.

PUBLIC PROGRAM: Saturday 31.05

• 13:30, Official inauguration of the Stadswaag and the tree grates, with speeches by Paul Cordy, Johan Pas and Nico Dockx
• 12:00 – 18:00, Presentation Stadswaag publication and sound performance by Moritz Bollessen & guests (at Studio Stadswaag)
• 13:30 – 17:30, Window drawings, guided tour with Visual Thinking Strategies and live recording podcast by
Rens Cools & Frederik Lizen (at Stadsform)

Full schedule at royalacademyantwerp.be and stadsform.be

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.