Feral is a festival that reflects on today’s urgent political and social issues, and how artists take them into their hands. It is a programme of artistic interventions and encounters that uses art to influence everyday life in Brussels. Feral can take place on a boat, on a farm, in a swimming pool or an old monastery. Feral is urban, interstitial, peripheral and feral.

Editorial

At demonstrations all over the world floats a pirate flag with a straw hat. This black flag is from the manga series One Piece and has spread throughout struggles and revolutions as an international symbol of Generation Z, embodying the fight against corruption, inequality and authoritarian governments. This flag is what inspired this edition of Feral.

What demands and aspirations does it embody? What practices, forms of organisation and values does it reflect?

Historically, piracy was a movement of revolt and mutiny against authority. Fighting on the water, hiding on land as runaway maroons amongst escaped slaves, pirates formed communities of resistance that gave rise to other possibilities, to other versions of the world.

What remains of this legacy today? Who are the contemporary pirates? From hacking practices to citizen-led initiatives, from forms of collective care to artistic and ecological experiments, we are seeing the emergence of practices that subvert existing frameworks to produce new knowledge and share resources.

Feral 2026’s speakers are simultaneously artists, researchers, activists and on the ground practitioners. Together, we will form a temporary assembly of pirates. We will explore the places, stories and practices that are opening up new ways, on land and at sea, of inhabiting the world.

We are going to:

Gather our crew

Sail the fringes of the “Empire”

Dream of sharing the spoils

Take action against the criminalisation of solidarity

Identify tactics of defiance

Infiltrate

Go undercover

Think from the sea

Reconnect what has been separated

Listen to the whistling

Tinker with radios

Chart our own maps and paths

Draw inspiration from the mole that knows no borders

Build rafts

Set sail

Sing the canal

Walk towards the clouds that were beneath our feet

And who knows, maybe write our own pirate code?

Marine Thévenet, Anna Czapski & Emmanuelle Nizou

Echoing our programme :

Figures of Fascism and Anti-Fascist Solidarities - 17 > 19 Sept

As a prelude to Feral, a three-day study programme organised by Bojana Cvejić in collaboration with Kaaitheater, explores the globalisation of fascism and current anti-fascist responses. The programme features talks by La Candidate Sans-Papiers d’Europe, Dora García, Valeria Graziano & Tomislav Medak, and Sarah Schulman. The perfect warm-up for Feral.

Nyege Nyege - MIRROR WORLD - 25 & 26 Sept

Mirror World is an interdimensional bridge/portal that invites the public to immerse themselves in the world of Nyege Nyege for a weekend. Nyege Nyege is a hybrid and fluid platform based in Kampala which, since 2015, has been showcasing artists, DJs, performers and cultural figures active in various alternative Afrocentric scenes. To round off your day at Feral.

Venues:

Metarage

Rue du Métal 32, 1060 Saint-Gilles

Metarage is a research and creative organisation in the performing arts, dedicated in particular to emerging choreographers, located in a former printing plant in Saint Gilles.

From Woluwe-Saint-Lambert to Zanventem

Meeting point at Woluwe Shopping Center (tram stop 8), park side

Cercle de la Voile

Oostvaartdijk 52, 1850 Grimbergen

A century-old sailing clubhouse situated on the banks of the canal, the Cercle Royal de la Voile has retained its authentic, quaint charm. Its excellent acoustics make it a wonderful venue for concerts. Sport, culture, nature and fried seafood: sailors passing through forge all manner of connections here.

Languages

• From Pirate to Pirate Care: Discussions will be held in English and French with simultaneous translation.
• Let’s do it and Let’s do it again: Workshops will be given in their original languages, with whispered translation to be organised within the groups.
• Walking on the fringes of the digital world: Interventions will be in English or French, with whispered translation available.
• Launch of The Book of Landscapes: The book launch will be held in English with whispered translation available.
• Let’s not forget that pirates were sailors: Discussions will be held in French, with whispered translation available.

Access

Metarage

• The ground floor of the venue, where the morning assembly will take place, is wheelchair accessible and located on a single level.
• The three upper floors hosting the lunch, workshops and drinks are accessible by stairs only; no elevator on site.

From Woluwe-Saint-Lambert to Zaventem

• It is not possible to follow the walk by bike.
• The walk is not wheelchair accessible.
• The walk is around 6km with stops alongside parc benches.
• The first part of the route is a beaten earth path.
• The second part of the route is on flat tarmac.

Cercle de la Voile

• The ground floor, hosting some of the workshops, is wheelchair accessible and located on a single level.
• The upper floor, where some of the workshops and the discussion will take place, is accessible by stairs only, no elevator on site.
• The riverbanks, hosting some workshops and the concert are accessible by stairs only, no ramp on site.

For any futher questions about accessibility, don’t hesistate to contact us: cifas@cifas.be.

Credits

Support: Cocof, FWB, Commune of Saint Gilles

Coproduction: PLACE - Performing Landscapes - a project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme, Nadine

Partners: Metarage, Cercle de la Voile, Kaaitheater, Nyege Nyege Arts & Music Festival Brussels, SITU - Master Design Urbain / Arba ESA

Thank you to: Bojana Cvejić, Tania El Khoury, Prisca Ratovonasy, Klaus Reimer, Linda Presburg, Philippe Bernard, Maxime Braye, Agathe Voisin, Maxime Arnoult, La Bellone, and all the pirates who will recognise themselves.

Team

Marine Thévenet - Artistic and general direction

Anna Czapski - Artistic advice

Emmanuelle Nizou - Artistic advice

Charlotte David - Production and administration

fede fantini - Production

Juliette Framorando - Production

Beth Gordon - Communication

Marie Steinmetz - Communication

Flore Herman - Coordination Feral Magazine