Collectives

The Watou Arts Festival will focus on collectives in 2026. The open call “The smell of grass is changing” resulted in more than 100 project proposals.

The jury ultimately selected seven collectives from Belgium and abroad.

These are the collectives – comprising a total of 30 artists and poets – that will create a new work for Watou 2026:

Ai Ai Poëzie  – Maud Vanhauwaert, Jelle Jespers, Christophe Scholliers (BE)

Motus Mori – archive for human movement (NL) – Katja Heitman, performers & Carmien Michels (BE)

Glockner|de Ruiter|Miyachi (D/NL/JP) & Bernke Klein Zantvoort (NL)

Blobotone – Frouke Wiarda, Judith van der Elst (BE/NL) & Rozalie Hirs (NL)

Natural Experiences INC. – Bram Verbeek, Brenda El Rayes, Alies Torfs, Kristoffer Kronander (BE/LB/SE) & Arno Van Vlierberghe (BE)

Cesar Janssens|Griet Dobbels|Lotte Dodion (BE)

ANT Collective – Karla Paredes K, Fedrik Vaessen, Noa Zuidervaart (PE-DE/NL) & Vincent Van Meenen (BE)

With this selection, the arts festival is fully committed to Watou’s DNA: providing space for new creations and experimentation.

The focus is once again on the dialogue between visual art and poetry.

Michaël Vandebril, poetry curator, brought poets into contact with the collectives that did not yet have a poet in their midst. They are writing a new poem to accompany the visual art.

The programme for Watou 2026 will be finalised in the coming months.

In addition to the seven winning collectives, the curators will select a number of artists and poets who fit the theme.