Pilar is a Brussels-based laboratory for new voices, artistic experimentation and collective imagination.

Pilar is an open house for experiencing art together, connecting the VUB campus with Brussels. We bring new voices and curious minds together to discover, create and share new perspectives through art.

Mission

Pilar is an open house for art and encounters, rooted on the VUB campus and interwoven with Brussels.

We bring together new voices, curious audiences and diverse artistic practices. Between the university and the city, art and society, experimentation and presentation, space is created to see things differently, to try new things and to grow.

Pilar offers creators opportunities to develop and showcase their work in a professional context, with time, trust, technical support and space for taking risks. We invite the public not only to watch or listen, but also to participate, ask questions and discover new perspectives.

Through music, visual arts, theatre and performance, film and community work, we are building a space where disciplines intersect and where art engages with science and social issues. In this way, we amplify new voices and create space for imagination, dialogue and change.

Pilar is an open house for art and encounters, rooted on the VUB campus and interwoven with Brussels.

We bring together new voices, curious audiences and diverse artistic practices. Between the university and the city, art and society, experimentation and presentation, space is created to see things differently, to try new things and to grow.

Pilar offers creators opportunities to develop and showcase their work in a professional context, with time, trust, technical support and space for taking risks. We invite the public not only to watch or listen, but also to participate, ask questions and discover new perspectives.

Through music, visual arts, theatre and performance, film and community work, we are building a space where disciplines intersect and where art engages with science and social issues. In this way, we amplify new voices and create space for imagination, dialogue and change.

Vision

Pilar aims to be a warm and distinctive space. A place where you can walk in without knowing exactly what you’re looking for, and walk out with a new idea, an unexpected encounter or a different perspective on the world.

We are a laboratory for evolving artistic practices. Here, creators and the public are free to experiment, doubt, fail, start afresh and grow. We believe in the value of the unfinished and in the power of the unexpected. That is why we provide a space for voices, forms and ideas that have not yet naturally found their place.

Pilar moves between worlds: between artistic disciplines, between knowledge and imagination, between reflection and pleasure, between the university and the city. Artists, audiences, researchers and other curious minds come together here. From these encounters, new artistic forms, insights and collaborations can emerge.

We believe that art not only reveals what is going on, but also makes us feel what is possible. That is why we are building a welcoming space where people can connect without having to think alike, where differences are allowed to rub against one another, and where curiosity is the starting point.

In this way, Pilar aims to contribute to a society in which young and new voices are given space, imagination is taken seriously, and art invites people to engage with the world more mindfully, more freely and with a greater sense of connection.

Target groups

Who’s it for?

Pilar is primarily aimed at youngsters and young adults who want to discover, experience or help shape the arts themselves. We focus on curious people from a wide range of backgrounds: from seasoned culture-goers to those attending a concert, exhibition, film screening, performance or workshop for the very first time. In doing so, we connect the VUB campus with Brussels and welcome audiences from the city and far beyond.

We are also here for emerging creators – artists who are at the start of their journey, exploring a new direction, or working with practices that do not naturally fit within existing disciplines and structures. Pilar offers them a space to experiment, develop their work, present it and engage in dialogue with audiences and other creators.

Through our community initiatives and Bar Pilar, we engage people not only as visitors, but also as participants, organisers or collaborative partners. Workshops, open calls, jams, discussions and accessible artistic interventions create various ways to get involved.

Young people and young adults are at the heart of our audience engagement, however, Pilar is an open house. Students and local residents, artists and researchers, regular visitors and curious passers-by: everyone is most welcome.