open sites 2026

Open sites is an outdoor exhibition where artists ask questions about the social, economic, cultural, historical and landscape traces of 3 areas located on either side of the Franco-Belgian border.

The three organisations: Atelier 2 (Villeneuve d' Ascq/ FR), MJC Comines-Warneton and Het Perron Ieper have been working together on this in situ project since 2014. From a joint call, each organisation distils some eight projects to be implemented during a creation week: Traces on the Ypres Fortifications, Court-Circuit at local entrepreneurs in Comines-Warneton and Entre-Lacs on and around the lakes in Villeneuve d'Ascq.

Entre-Lacs aims to valorise original artworks in which water is central. The space dominated by water and the artwork must be related. Thus, the work can be based on water, air or both, but it must have nothing to do with earth or land. The event fits into the context of the lakes of Villeneuve d'Ascq (FR). Water serves as a material and also as a symbol: the artwork must be placed in one of Villeneuve d'Ascq's lakes.

Sporen aims to valorise original artworks that focus on the landscape formed by man and nature. Sporen points to the traces of human interventions in the landscape and how nature has reclaimed the terrain. The work can be based on the earth, water or air. The works will have to be realised on or near the fortifications between the Menin Gate and the Lille Gate. The fortresses are historical witnesses of how man has intervened in the landscape. Today they form a green belt around the city of Ypres, some of which nature has repossessed.

Courts-Circuits interrogates the area and highlights local economic particularities (short chain) through artistic creation as a catalyst of local know-how. Courts-Circuits aims to promote original artworks where materials are processed and sold and where the services offered in Komen-Waasten, in the broad sense, are essential. All materials operated by a local merchant, linked to the characteristics of Komen, form the basis of the event. The materials can be used as materials or as themes of the work.