Embassy of Uncertain Shores

Starting this May 2016, the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain hosts the Embassy of Uncertain Shores, a public programme of lecture-performances, debates, music and happenings by and with artists and researchers. The program, drafted by Nicola Setari, provides a space of encounter and discussion for those who physically, intellectually and diplomatically search for shores beyond the reefs and rifts in Europe and its neighboring lands. The Embassy represents the research of artists and thinkers working on the interrelations between geopolitical transformations and micro narratives. It is devoted to voices and practices that challenge the reality of borders and exclusions and embrace the pleasures of friendship and hospitality.

Villa Empain’s conversions throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century from museum for the decorative arts to embassy of the Soviet Union in Brussels after WWII and, in recent years, to headquarters of a cultural and philanthropic foundation promoting dialogue between the cultures of the East and West, in the diplomatic neighborhood of Brussels, make it a symbolically layered and ideally located venue for the Embassy. The program opens on 25 May with a lecture-performance series presented for the first time in Europe by Slavs and Tatars that will take place on four dates until 26 October. The first date will be also the occasion to listen to a performance by violinist and composer Mikhail Bezverkhny especially conceived for the Embassy.

The events organized by the Embassy are open to everyone. A particular effort will be made to involve the artists and researchers in residence in Brussels and, in a collaboration with Cinemaximiliaan, also newcomers in Brussels.