As I told you last week: it’s about time I start showing you where to go in my hometown (okay, in the city 12 km next to my hometown), instead of always rushing of to other cities or countries. In part one, I showed you Hasselt’s one and only vintage shop, this time we’re getting some culture and something to eat!
I’m always off to Brussels, Antwerp or cities in faraway countries and sometimes I forget where I come from. Close to home there’s some good stuff to be found as well!
Over 20 photos in one post isn’t too much, or is it? Sometimes I just can’t help it, sometimes I really can’t kill my darlings! (Oh wait, you should’ve seen the amount of photos I started with…) A few weeks ago, me and some friends paid a visit to our Belgian king, or much rather the gigantic greenhouses in his even more gigantic garden. The royal greenhouses of Laeken are wonderful and certainly a must-see, too bad they are only open for the public during the month of April and you’re not allowed to visit all of the domain, only a specific route is public.
Last week, I showed you the beautiful gardens of the Carthusian monastery, and today it’s time for the inside of this abandoned building and the artwork displayed at the festival. I don’t remember the artists, but if you’re interested, you can take a look at the ithaka website.
Last week, I visited Ithaka, a visual arts festival in an abandonned building in Leuven, organized by students. This year, Ithaka celebrated its 20th anniversary and occupied the old carthusian monastery. When I arrived at the monastery, I was mind blown by the fact that such a beautiful location existed in Leuven and I wasn’t aware of it at all. So today, I have a few photos of the gorgeous garden for you, and next week I’ll flood you with lots of photos of the inside and the displayed art. (More information about ithaka and the monastery here.)
A few weeks ago, I went to see the Cy Twombly exhibition in the Bozar in Brussels. Besides Cy Twombly, I also took a look at NICHE, Bozar’s micro exhibition of young Belgian architecture and the Image / Construction ‘3 cities’ series. These three exhibitions are still showing, so I suggest you pay a visit to the Bozar soon!
all photos by me
Yesterday I showed you how amazing the Existenz Maximum location looked this year, today I’ll give you an impression of what happened there at night… There was a lot of dancing, making new friends (preferably with tiger socks), dressing up to do the lindy hop, cosmic leggings and surprised people gazing out the window at the construction workers who started destroying the other part of the building while we hadn’t made it to our beds yet. What a week!
Remember this? Like every year, the Existenz Maximum week took place in an abandoned building in Leuven, this time the old management buildings of Stella were the place to be. Unlike last year, I’m no part of the Existenz team anymore, which meant I could fully enjoy all of it! Of course I never let an opportunity pass by to take photograph or two, so here’s a first small (hmm) selection!
I told you I would keep an eye out for more confetti smiles! I discovered three more confetti smiles in my city Leuven. If you want to see them for yourselves: the first one was in the Parijsstraat, on the side facade of the Metafoor, the other’s are in the Charles Deberiotstraat on the left side of the parc, in the parc on the backside of the stage and in the Leopold Vanderkelenstraat, next to Museum M. Such adorable street art, this surely turns a smile on my face every time I cross one of these!
all photos by me
photo by me
I’m done with interior design and photography deadlines, but the next 5 weeks will be spent behind my books, studying for my exams. I’ll try to update regularly though, once in a while I need a break after all! Luckily I have something to look forward too, as I’m going to Morocco for a week when I’m done with my exams. Should be good! (And warm… Yay.)
This photo was taken in my city Leuven, somebody is decorating the city with happy confetti smiles, which cheers me up every time I cross it. I’ll try to document as many smiles as possible!
YARD is a lovely boutique / gallery in Leuven, offering gorgeous stuff from various young designers and artists, so if you’re looking for a unique addition to your wardrobe, an original gift or a one-of-a-kind piece of art, this is where you should be! For more info, you can take a look at their website or webshop.
My apologies for being so absent on the blog lately, I’ve been having some trouble with settling down now my lessons have started again and getting everything done that needs to be done. But I’m back now! Last Sunday, ‘Dag van de architectuur’ took place in Flanders, on this particular day several buildings (both public and private) open their doors for lovers of architecture, and I was given the opportunity to photograph for the organization. They wanted photos that would show how much of a success this day was, portraying lots of interested people, but of course I couldn’t resist taking some photos of these beautiful buildings as well! These photos are from the openbaar entrepot voor de kunsten, a building belonged to the customs and now is the new home for several cultural initiatives, with rehearsal rooms, a theatre and a café. The industrial vibe made it one of my favorites!
all pictures taken by me
No ‘things that make smile’ post today, since my ‘things that make me smile’ folder has disappeared… If you miss it, you can always take a look at my previous sunday posts here.
Instead, you get these photos from the lovely picnic me and my friends had during the summer. Good times.
I recently visited the MAS again, and this time I got to see the collection (last time the museum wasn’t officially open yet), but I must say I was a little bit disappointed! The museum rooms were too crowded and too dark to my liking, and all the items were placed very closed to each other, which made it even harder to enjoy the collection easily. Maybe I have to give it another chance on a calmer day? Anyway, I did get a nice photo out of it.
Another museum! It seems like I spend all of my freetime in museums, buth I have to admit, all of these museums I have visited for the architecture rather than their collection, and most of these visits were for one of my courses! That aside, I really enjoy these visits. Anyway, this is Museum M, Leuven’s pride.
all pictures taken by me
Last weekend, the ‘Museum Aan de Stroom’ (or simply the MAS), was opened in Antwerp with the expected festivities. I didn’t make it to the opening, but a few weeks ago, we already payed a visit to the MAS for one of our courses. Here are a few pictures!
all pictures taken by me
Last Saturday, I visited “DSGNRMRKT” at the Modemuseum of Hasselt, a market where young fashiontalent sold unique fashion. I saw some pretty cool stuff!
I’m so in love with that coat by Ti+Hann!
Lots of colors and bold prints at Irene Heldens
Jewelry by Lore Langendries.
Made by chickies
Gorgeous lingerie by MajoRey
Lalou Dandine
Fôret Féerique
‘Marcellekes’, as we call them, customised by (from left to right) Stijn Helsen, Cesar Casier, Marcel Vanthilt (obviously), Delphine Boël and Vjeze Fur from De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig. They were auctioned to raise money for Think Pink (an organisation to raise awareness for breast cancer).
All pictures are taken by me.
When I visited the ModeMuseum Hasselt, they were hosting an indoor designer market called ‘HOERA! Hip Handwerk.’
I will devote this post to sharing my personal favourites.
Mr. Lapin sells lovely brooches (my best friend bought this one as a gift for me!), cute earrings, and adorable etuis. The illustrations of Mr. Lapin (which you can find on the site) are pretty amazing aswell. I couldn’t not include this one, quoting The Subs.
At Lovely Mariquita, you can find the cutest polkadotted skirts and colourful stuffed animals. Everything she sells just screams ‘cute’!
Art Mind‘s babushka-shaped ceramics express all kinds of emotions. It’s amazing how many of these little postures she made, all expressing different feelings. She also makes beautiful hairpins, rings, etc. with this babushka silhouette.
I’ve known Titi + The German Kid‘s stuff for quite some time now, back then she sold tanktops with hand-drawn illustrations, often personalised for the buyer, right now I like her I heart him and I heart her tank tops the most, all though her knitted frisco’s (does that word even exist in english?) and owls are pretty cute too. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything about Polly Rocket on the internet, but I do remember her cute knitted robots and penguins.
As you can see, there are a few designers left that I didn’t mention, unfortunately I didn’t take pictures of every stand and I don’t recall all of their names either… But I’m sure you found something you like between my picks!
Last Sunday, me and my best friend visited the exhibition ‘In her shoes’ at the Modemuseum Hasselt (fashion museum in Hasselt). 
Obviously, this was an exhibition about shoes, shoes, shoes, and… more shoes.
Extremely expensive designer shoes…. (Pay attention to THE Manolo’s from the Sex and the City movie!)
… architectural shoes… (Rem D Koolhaas is NOT the same person as the famous architect Rem Koolhaas, it’s his nephew!)
…beautiful shoes from less famous designers…
… pumps and boots with fabulous decorations…
… versatile boots…
… and more conceptual shoes. You name it, they’ve got it!
The shoes were divided into high…
… and low…
… and were surrounded with the glamour they diserve.
You can find more information at the website of the museum, In Her Shoes will be staying in Hasselt until November 8.
PS. I apologize for the sometimes poor quality of the pictures! The museum was rather dark and I couldn’t always use flash since several shoes were behind glass… I also apologize for not always adding the name of the designer, I don’t remember all of the rather unknown designers.
Gewoon Lies
Black Balloon