Over three days each month from February to April 2027, around ten artists come together to create a “constellation” of the artistic projects they are each currently developing. These projects will serve as a starting point for experimentation, feedback and cross-disciplinary discussions. Drawing on the creative questions that preoccupy them, the artists share, experiment and find common ground with one another.

The programme is structured around the presentation of prototypes (short artistic proposals that allow an idea to be tested without becoming too attached to it), which will then be examined, scrutinised, dissected and cherished by the whole group during feedback sessions. Alongside support for individual projects, this is therefore a collective journey, nourished by the diversity of perspectives, backgrounds and disciplines present within the group.

Constellations is also a laboratory for reflecting collectively on the performing arts in the city and its fringes, and for attempting to define the contours of the concepts of public space and site-specific artistic practices. At Cifas, we understand public space as an open concept that is constantly evolving: it is not merely the physical public space, but also the public sphere more broadly. We therefore include participatory artistic approaches, site-specific creation, collaborative art, community art, relational art, co-creation, or any approach that seeks to question its relationship with public space.

Each year, Cifas invites an artist to support this programme and facilitate a cross-disciplinary dialogue based on their own practice and relationship with the public space. Following on from Anna Rispoli and Sarah Vanhee, it is Maryne Lanaro who will be bringing her perspective to the 2027 constellation.

Artist in dialogue: Maryne Lanaro

A multidisciplinary artist and founder of the Grand Dehors collective, Maryne Lanaro develops a practice at the crossroads of performing arts, public space, ecology and ritual (METAMORTEM, OUT, CHUTE AGENCY). She explores how art can support urban transformation, shift perceptions and invent new ways of inhabiting and sharing communal spaces. Maryne is also a funeral ceremony master (Coopérative Funéraire de Rennes), accompanying transitions and transformations, for both the living and the dead. At the same time, she is developing an educational practice centred on collective intelligence (Labos des Communs), as she sees education as “a space in which to establish a framework whilst allowing the collective to stir and chaos to exist. ”

During Constellations, Maryne will share her practice of ritual as a creation in situ, in tempo and cum quo (“in place, in time, and with people”), that is to say, one that pays particular attention to context and stories. She will draw upon tools and methodologies that enable one to ground oneself in the territory, such as note-taking, collecting, wandering, and the construction of a sensory inquiry. How can ritual become the instauration of what the context demands, rather than what the ritual does for the context? What desirable outcomes might then emerge from these new narratives?

Co-Facilitation: Flore Herman

Flore Herman has been co-facilitating Constellations since 2023. To create this framework for collaborative learning, she supports the participating artists and acts as a link to the artistic and educational vision of the featured artist – this year, Maryne Lanaro.

She is also a permanent member of the Cifas team as editor of Feral Magazine.

The rest of her time, working as a facilitator or dramaturg, she supports both amateur and professional artists in their creative processes, particularly in research projects relating to co-creation, public space, exile and the transmission of marginalised knowledge.

In short, Constellations is a tool for:

• strengthening and expanding one’s own working methodologies
• experimenting with and discovering alternative approaches to writing and creation
• giving and receiving feedback
• exploring and refining research issues specific to creation in public space
• discovering other artists and sharing practices
• strengthening artistic solidarity in a sector that is still based on competition

For whom?:

• Artists of all levels of experience who are currently developing a project in the performing arts – across all disciplines – that explores the city and/or public space.
• A wide range of artistic practices and perspectives will be valued.
• We encourage applications from artists from socio-economic and cultural backgrounds that are under-represented in the Brussels arts sector.
• We will make our selection whilst being mindful of the structural processes of oppression and invisibilisation that affect individuals and communities discriminated against on the grounds of class, race, age, gender, sex, or physical or mental ability.

Practical information:

Language

French

Dates

Attendance to all sessions is compulsory.

In this co-learning journey, everyone is irreplaceable and contributes to the collective body of knowledge.

February

March

April

Location

Brussels, location TBC

Conditions:

Each artist will receive 40€ per day (volunteer contracts).

Selection & deadline:

Each artist will present an artistic project they are currently developing as part of this “constellation”. This project will serve as a starting point for experimentation, feedback and cross-disciplinary discussions. Your applications will therefore help us to understand your needs, as well as the specific artistic characteristics and complementary strengths that would be present within the group.

Deadline to apply: Wednesday 9 December 2026 (midnight)

Answer: before 15 December

Fill in this online form attaching the following:

1- Biography (between 500 and 1000 characters spaces included)

2- A letter (1.500 characters spaces included) or an audio or video (3 mins max.) explaining why you would like to take part in Constellations, answering the following questions:

• What project would you like to work on at Constellations?

• What stage of development is it at?

• How could the Constellations help you?

• What issues are currently driving you, in relation to public space or the city?

If you have any questions or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Charlotte David

charlotte@cifas.be

+32 497 74 74 25