Art Five reasons not to miss La Monnaie’s 2018-19 season This season, La Monnaie will have a schedule jam-packed with incredible shows that are sure to tickle everyone’s fancy, so we’ve curated a rundown of the crème de la crème to help you take your pick for their upcoming season.
Neighbourhood life Do the right thing 20 things to do in Belgium this weekend Futuristic curation in Ghent, contemporary theatre in a seed factory in Mechelen and sonic art in Antwerp. Go do the right thing.
Art Portfolio reports The art of togetherness: De Zwarte Zusters on the power of mutual improvisation In the framework of Bekegem's PLAN B art festival, various art forms will be explored, boundaries will be crossed and the unexpected is to be expected as Belgian artists and creatives from further abroad will showcase new and existing works. We've selected five artists and projects you cannot miss, rounding up with Ghent's De Zwarte Zusters.
Neighbourhood life Home-field advantage An Etterbeekois since the age of five, editor-in-chief Nicholas Lewis and in-house photographers Miles Fischler and Thomas Ost roam the streets of Etterbeek, the village-within-a-village.
Neighbourhood life Do the right thing 10 things to do in Belgium this weekend Engaging film festivals in Antwerp, underdog festivals in Ghent, and our very own rooftop radio reception in Brussels. Go do the right thing.
Art Portfolio reports “I would like to interrupt today’s machine gun of images for a moment.” Oona Libens’ questioning of today’s imagery In the framework of Bekegem's PLAN B art festival, various art forms will be explored, boundaries will be crossed and the unexpected is to be expected as Belgian artists and creatives from further abroad will showcase new and existing works. We've selected five artists and projects you cannot miss, including multi-skilled artists Oona Libens.
Music “Running a cassette label was basically just another means of coping with my addiction.” EE Tapes’ unabashed infatuation with obscurity In a rare interview, EE Tapes' founder Eriek Van Havere talks tape swaps, his love of compilations and why he continues to release Alain Neffe music.
Neighbourhood life Pictures of our recent The Word Radio presents All That Jazz party A selection of pictures from our recent The Word Radio presents All That Jazz: a full day of radio shows, DJ sets and live concerts.
Art On the streets of Belgium, Part 2: Eva Donckers The Word Magazine and Fujifilm are happy to invite you to a free street photography workshop, and for the occassion, we sent our own in-house photographer Eva Donckers to capture our streets.
Neighbourhood life On shaping educational policy from the ground up, by Rania el Mard VSK spokesperson Rania el Mard took the time out of her busy schedule to share her irksome experiences when transitioning education systems, and her optimism for Flemish students' futures.
Neighbourhood life The Belgian Breakfast Club In-house photographer Thomas Ost criss-crossed the country far and wide, visiting various different secondary schools in a bid to capture the generations of tomorrow.
Music “We want to keep shedding light on unknown things, on music people tend to forget even exists.” How Sub Rosa sifts through the chaos of experimental electronic music An extended interview with Guy-Marc Hinant, co-founder of near-mythical record label Sub Rosa, talking everything from the imprint's first release to achieving unity in production and why seven is the label's lucky number.
Neighbourhood life On housing two generations under one same roof, by Chantal Baestle Mons-based Chantal Baestle recounts her experience with the Belgian intergenerational housing project 1toit2ages.
Neighbourhood life Why Belgium needs to look closer to home before pointing fingers. With the country's seeming unwillingness to tackle its own fundamental failings head on, its ability to hold a moral compass up to its international partners stands diminished.
Neighbourhood life Photographs of our launch party at Brussels’ CIVA Foundation last week Best. Night. Ever.
Neighbourhood life My kind of Rebels Some opening words from our editor-in-chief for our brand new Rebels issue.
Neighbourhood life Behind closed doors, the unpublished pictures A few unpublished images of our last edition's fashion story.
Neighbourhood life This is (our) Brussels To mark the release of The Brussels Special, we take a trip down memory lane to pull-up some of our favourite Brussels features.
Art The art throwaway project The throwaway project: Jonathan Meese As throwaway adventures go, artist Jonathan Meese's one is pretty fucking bonkers.
Neighbourhood life The party we threw in Brussels for our new edition A gospel pop act that literally brought the entire room to its knees and a bunch of guitar-wielding monks. EPIC.
Music The music throwaway project Sic Alps A selection of photographs from the San Francisco-based four-tet's final tour.
Music Music: Interview with Wastelands’ Herlinde and Kasper-Jan Raeman The Subbacultcha! affiliate turns two this summer and moves to new digs
Art Belgium’s photography graduates: Lisa Spilliaert Last but certainly not least, Lisa Spilliaert brings the series to a close...
Music Music: DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith at Boomtown Festival When not making shitty demos in hotel rooms the Brooklyn blow-in can be found rocking the world's summer festivals
Art Belgium’s photography graduates: Lenka Lukacovicova The recent graduate talks abandonment issues and the abundance of space in her graduation series Muses
Music The rant: The Herbaliser’s Jake and Ollie on “the industry” Having been "on the scene" for about two decades now, they've got quite a lot of bones to pick...
Art Belgium’s photography graduates: Heidrun Klos Fresh from the prestigious art school, she tells us about the challenge of using images for self-expression.
Music Music: Interview with 10 Days Off’s Jeroen Delodder He talks pop star DJs, ones to watch and choosing the lineup for one of the world's most progressive electronic music gigs.
Art Belgium’s photography graduates: Miles Fischler School's out. Miles Fischler is first in our series of interviews with recently graduated Belgian photographers.
Neighbourhood life The Word Magazine at Librairie Candide The instant camera antics of a few friends of The Word Magazine, as seen at last week's launch at Librairie Candide...
Music Music: The must-see acts of the Belgian festival season 2013 Tonight Rock Werchter marks an explosive start to the festival season. Check out these insider tips on what not to miss.
Neighbourhood life Area codes Area codes: Dieter Van Den Storm’s Brussels North district Change to this gritty cityscape is a long time coming...Brussels' north inner city gets a once-over.
Neighbourhood life Area codes Area codes: Coffeeklatch’s Magali and Bart on Antwerp North The prolific profilers talk gentrification and architectural gems in this crash course on their north city 'hood.
Neighbourhood life Area codes A walk through Ostend with DJ Nosedrip What’s so great about Ostend? DJ Nosedrip reveals what he loves best about his native turf
Neighbourhood life The Word Magazine All*Stars: Max and Randa Shoes say more about you than any of the rest of your wardrobe picks. And sneakers say even more.
Neighbourhood life Area codes Love London Journalist Nabeelah Shabbir walks us through some of her favourite shabby to chic corners of her native London town
Neighbourhood life The Word Magazine All*Stars: Damien and Olivier “They really are my gig and festival sneakers. They could write a book”
Neighbourhood life The Word Magazine at Hunting & Collecting – the Pictures A selection of party shots from last Thursday's release party at Brussels' Hunting and Collecting.
Art Consummate Brussels collector Dimitri Jeurissen talks Art Brussels "Look at the art and not at the market. And build real relationships with the artists..."
Art Newly-installed Art Brussels director Katerina Gregos’ fresh start After 15 years, Brussels' seminal contemporary art fair gets a new director.
Neighbourhood life The second best edition release party: Brussels We came, we saw, we launched a top class, prime rib, first rate piece of publishing genius. Here's the evidence.
Neighbourhood life The Word turns five: The pictures (Part 2) After the first batch yesterday, here's part two of our party people roll-call.
Neighbourhood life The Word turns five: The pictures (Part 1) The first instalment of photographs from last Friday's epic birthday bash featuring you, you and you.
The year’s three most infamous fashion industry cat fights In the second installment of our best-of list fest, we look at the ballsiest and bitchiest fashion cat fights of 2012. Meee-ow...
Art An interview with Wiels curator Devrim Bayar about her project Le Salon As Le Salon turns one year old, its founder and Wiels curator Devrim Bayar fills us in on the Brussels' premier go-to art guide.
Neighbourhood life Meet AME, Funky Bompa and DJ SoFa: Belgium’s biggest crate diggers Bart Sibiel's shout-out to three dedicated Belgian record collectors.
Art Slow journalism, fast medium: Bart Kiggen & Magali Elali’s Coffeeklatch Bart and Magali visit interesting Belgian people in their homes, ask questions, drink coffee, and put it all on Coffeeklatch...
Art Photographer Frieke Janssens takes your last shot before you die The Belgian photographer is embarking on a sort-of-morbid mission to make you immortal.
Fashion designer Christian Wijnants on his 20th collection and winning the Woolmark prize Throwing a big party to celebrate winning the Woolmark prize is not really Christian Wijnants' thing, he's saving his energies for Paris next year.
Art A chat with the owners of Brussels culinary gem Bouchery Another installment in our series on dynamic duos going it fifty-fifty sees us drop in on Damien and Bénédicte, the creative minds behind Brussels restaurant Bouchery.
Neighbourhood life An interview with Antwerp-based German designer Daniel Andresen Antwerp-based German designer Daniel Andresen took time out to chat to us about subjects close to his heart, like the textures and imperfections of a well-spun yarn
Music Belgian electro pop duo Joy Wellboy on life, love and joking about The Clash’s drummer Belgian two-piece Joy Wellboy talk about sharing the stage, sharing a bed and being mirrors for each other...
Art An interview with the founders of Brussels art gallery VidalCuglietta Barbara Cuglietta and Lilou Vidal: a pair of Brussels-based gallery owners share the reasons for their mutual appreciation in our series on winsome twosomes.
Antwerp-based girl DJ duo Soren on gigs and good looks We met up at Antwerp's Café Normo with Amélie Lens and Rosalie De Meyer to talk about Søren, the DJ act they launched together last year.
Music Exclusive mixes The 15 best party tracks by Fuse founder Peter Decuypere’s We asked the founding father of legendary Brussels club Fuse and the creative mind behind I Love Techno to select a couple of party tracks for us.
Neighbourhood life This is Belgium The best weightlifters in Belgium Weightlifters are often (wrongly) perceived as steroid-hungry meatheads. Truth is, the discipline, resilience and mental strength needed to master this Olympic sport would make any other professional athlete run for cover.
Neighbourhood life Iconic Brussels bookstore Darakan’s dying days We drop-in for a browse and a chat as a new (and final?) chapter opens in the Darakan saga.
An interview with high fashion shop Smets’ buying director Pascaline Smets Glamorous style heiress Pascaline Smets uses her role in the family business to bring a cosmopolitan edge to Brussels.
Neighbourhood life The five movers and shakers that gave Belgian designers a voice Scenes don’t just magically take shape. We talk to five individuals instrumental in instigating, supporting and promoting design in Belgium.
Art Documenta 13: an interview with fair director Chus Martinez Documenta, Kassel's 100 day contemporary art exhibition, is coming to a close. We speak to organiser Chus Martinez before the internationally renowned art gig disappears for another five years.
Neighbourhood life This is Belgium The best new faces in Belgian fashion With the new fashion season upon us, we review agencies' books, sifting through their pages for the new faces of tomorrow.
Art Studio visits A walk around up-and-coming Belgian painter Matthieu Ronsse’s house-come-studio We visit Matthieu Ronsse's studio, which also doubles up as his home to discover this promising artist's eclectic and fascinating body of work.
Art Studio visits Inside Brussels painter Karen Vermeren’s studio In part three of our series on artists' spaces, we pay a visit to Brussels-based painter Karen Vermeren's studio.
Art Studio visits Tom Liekens In our second studio visit of the month, we drop in on Belgian painter Tom Liekens, who let us into his Antwerp studio for an exclusive peak around.
Art An interview with Belgian painting prodigy Rinus Van de Velde We sit down with Belgian artist Rinus Van de Velde to talk about his working process, living in a fake reality and why the world doesn’t really need art.
Neighbourhood life Grey expectations By 2020, 40 percent of the Belgian population will be over 50. They will want to have fun, travel, and stay healthy and mobile in their own (renovated) homes. These four professionals understand that seniors will soon rule the world.
Art Photographers…and everyone around them Photographers need a whole team of specialists behind them, from framers and printers to airbrushers. In a bid to shine a light on those professions essential to the photographic process, we profile four of these artisans.
The middleman We sat down with Marc Gysemans to talk about his collaboration with industry darling Raf Simons and his profession as a producer in general.
Art Man vs. machine Saturo Toma, Michel Mazzoni and Frederik Heyman talk about their weapons of choice: We profile three Belgian photographers' cameras.
A taste for paradox We sat down with Paris-based Belgian Kris Van Assche - who designs Dior menswear as well as his own line - to talk about his style, avoiding sartorial clichés and why having fun with clothes is so important.
Neighbourhood life Truck drivers Belgium is an obligatory pit stop on most truckers’ itineraries. Here, we hitch a ride with some of the local boys, capturing the loneliness that comes with having chosen life on the road.
Christian Astuguevieille On the eve of one of his biggest auctions in Belgium, we chatted to French wunderkind Christian Astuguevieille about his relationship with Rei Kawakubo, his unusual career path and his contagious passion for tactile objects.
Neighbourhood life This is Belgium The best graffiti writers in Belgium We hunted down six legendary Belgian graffiti writers, each with their own speciality, and got them talking about their nighttime obsessions.
Art The grey album release party – Photographs Photographs of last Friday's grey album release party at BOZAR Shop in Brussels.
Art Fifteen questions to Caroline Van Hoek Here's us chatting with Brussels-based gallery founder Caroline Van Hoek about her take on the artist-as-jewellery-maker, why she expanded her space upwards and talent-scouting.
Neighbourhood life High potentials The future is bright, the future is orange: Five Belgian kids with a bit more potential than the rest of them tell us about their dreams for tomorrow.
Blonde ambition Céline De Schepper, only 23 years old, just graduated from La Cambre last June and is already one of Belgium's young rising fashion stars.
Neighbourhood life Pimpinelle Pimpinelle, a new boutique in Brussels for foodies, inspires Damien Aresta to sample some other recent delicious food experiences. Dig in.
Art Pauline Miko For our orange album, young and upcoming photographer Pauline Miko aimed her lense at red heads, capturing their somewhat mysterious and intriguing aura.
Art The orange album release party photographs Photographs of our orange album release party that took place in Brussels on Friday 8th April.
Neighbourhood life Back to zero As part of our series on new beginnings, here's Julien Mourlon and Mieke Dumortier who've accomplished something most of us scaredy cats daren't do: they took the reigns of their careers and said so long to playing it safe.
Music Decap organs Decap organs have been a family business since 1902, even though they look more like something from Bladerunner. We found an Antwerp producer who's equipped this old-timer organ with a midi interface, bringing it to life again.
Music The music throwaway project Casiokids The Word's throwaway project whisks you backstage for a peek at Norway's Casiokids doing their thang on their latest tour.
Music New name, new game We're talking band re-baptisms as part of our series on new beginnings, with Belgian musos The Glimmers, MonkeyRobot, New Bleeders and BRNS on why they did it and how it changed things (or not).
Music The music throwaway project M O N E Y After their gig in Paris' Point Ephémère last month, M O N E Y, Mancunian band on their way up, strip down naked for our throwaway project. Literally.
Neighbourhood life The rise of e-suicides Today we kick off our series on 'new beginnings' by taking a look at those who dare to say goodbye to their social network accounts. But, as the Eagles put it: “You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave.” Or can you?
Fifteen questions to Alice Knackfuss We talk to the designer about feminism, the "freedom" of menswear and why she ultimately refuses to believe in fast fashion.
Music Ross Clements and Geert Sermon With just a few days before their first night at Brussels' Beursschouwburg, we speak to kindred spirits Ross Clements and Geert Sermon about their joint promoting effort.
Neighbourhood life PLMD’s Pierre and Damien We polish off our series on creative and enterprising two-pieces with the delightful duo Pierre and Damien from graphic design studio pleaseletmedesign.
Music Exclusive mixes Miss Hot Tracks’ We continue our series of Valentine's Day-inspired mixes with Brussels-based DJ Miss Hot Tracks mix entitled 'Desires'.
Neighbourhood life Hunting and Collecting’s Niels and Aude Niels and Aude are the creative geniuses behind Hunting and Collecting, a Brussels-based concept store that's made a name for itself in Belgium and beyond.
Art The love movement A few weeks ago we asked our readers to send us a photograph which, to them, illustrated the word 'love'. Here are the 13 photographs that made the cut.
Neighbourhood life Projet Digilence’s Emilie and Valentin Emilie Pischedda and Valentin Souquet are a duo in lots of ways: they are artists, lovers, parents and founders of Brussels-based art production hub Project Digilence.
Art Grey Gardens By telling the story of the aunt and cousin of Jackie 'O' Kennedy, 1976 documentary Grey Gardens shows the face of the American aristocracy fallen from grace.
Neighbourhood life Felicia Atkinson and Bartolomé Sanson In the fourth part of our series on illuminating couple-collaborators, we introduce multi-talents Felicia and Bartholomé whose pooled resources include books and records.
Art Fifteen questions to Ingrid Baars We sit down with Antwerp-based Dutch photographer Ingrid Baars to discuss the creative process, her love of the female form and feedback from older men at gallery openings.
Neighbourhood life Onda Sonora’s Bart and Yoeri More superstar soulmates. DJs Yoeri Bellemans and Bart Sibiel make up two halves of Onda Sonora Soundsystem. They traffic their soulful sound at their own trademarked shindigs but also through a cool weekly slot on FM Brussel.
Neighbourhood life Face to Face’s Delphine and Flore On a total love buzz, we've begun harvesting some of February's Valentine spirit. We've decided to while away the month by introducing you to some inseparable Belgian two-pieces. Some are musicians. Others photographers. The odd DJ-duo, even. We kick off our series with Brussels-based graphic design team Face to Face.
Neighbourhood life Memymom’s Lisa and Marilène Part II of our fascination-feature on outstanding Belgian two-pieces. Drumroll please for Memymom, a photography venture concocted by mother and daughter duo Marilène and Lisa.
Art In Sickness and In Health In this unconventional family portrait, photographer Colin Gray offers you the ability to gaze into the spheres of a dying woman.
The Beautiful Fall A fascinating read about the bitter rivalry between iconic fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent.
Art Bruce Davidson’s Subway We take a closer look at Steidl's recent reissue of American photographer Bruce Davidson's groundbreaking photographs of the New York subway back in the 1980s.
Neighbourhood life Bouchéry, Brussels We book a table at gastronomic newcomer Bouchéry in Brussels' south to discover a world where passion and provenance prevail.
Music Nosedrip We sit down with Ghent-based DJ Nosedrip to ask him what's missing in his life and what songs he'd play on a first date. Scroll down to the bottom of the interview for a free mix.
Art Seeing right through you A campaigner, a law enforcer, a lawyer and a investigative journalist. We profile four local heroes that strive towards making your society a more honest and transparent one.
Neighbourhood life The smooth operator We speak to a Belgian hostage negotiator about handling crisis situations, parallels to the movie 'The Negotiator' and how a little lie can undermine an entire operation.
Art The school of white socks We zoom in on one of our all-time favourite fashion faux pas: white socks.
Art White coats: The pharmacist For the last instalment in our series on professions that still require wearing a white coat in the workplace, we visit Ghent-based pharmacist Ann Seye.
Neighbourhood life The king of clean Eddy Beaurain's Pressing No1 is an institution amongst Brussels' fashion folk. We pay him a visit days before he closes shop for good.
Music White labels Brussels nightlife queen and Word-columnist Lady Jane on white labels and the luxury of having record store clerks keep little gems behind their counters for their trusted customers.