From Saturday 11 February to Sunday 12 March 2023, Sculptura will take place, a new annual festival that will highlight contemporary sculptures and installation art for five weeks in the imposing Gare Maritime on the Tour & Taxis site and can be visited free of charge.

Under the motto A Journey to Discovery, Sculptura #1 introduces the art of sculpture with a wide range of styles and both monumental and small-scale works by internationally renowned artists spanning all generations.

'Imagine an event like Beaufort, the triennial art event on the Belgian coast. Take all those works, house them in a unique monumental exhibition hall in Brussels and let the public taste them for free and stormproof. That is Sculptura #1', says organizer Äke Verstraelen (Brussels Sculpture Festival vzw). The beating heart of this event is the Gare Maritime, the beautifully restored former goods station of Tour & Taxis. With its stately halls that are 280 meters deep, the vault of which rests on slender, cast-iron pillars with Art Nouveau decorations, this historic location has all the assets to make a visit to Sculptura #1 a special experience. The involvement of the artists, the possibilities for guided tours and (corporate) events contribute to this.

With this first edition, Sculptura wants to excite the public and make them eagerly awaiting more. The ambition is there: in 2024, in response to the Belgian presidency of the European Union, the Brussels Sculpture Festival wants to fan out across the entire city of Brussels and internationalize even more. The organization wants to make use of the further upgrading of the Brussels Canal Zone to give art a place in the public space together with its partners.

The non-profit association Brussels Sculpture Festival wants to see more sculptures anchored in the city for those who live, study, work or visit Brussels and thus contribute to the international image of the capital. In addition, the festival aims to become an annual benchmark within the international art world that attaches great importance to accessibility and inclusion. With this first edition, Sculptura is already handing out its business card.