“We believe that the challenges that we tackle are issues of another dimension than just our regional urban context.”Recyclart
Recyclart: our Hub in Brussels
Recyclart: where art, social economy, and urban coexistence converge. Based in a former industrial site in the densely inhabited Molenbeek district of Brussels, the multidisciplinary arts center focuses on experimental, underground, and socially engaged forms of artistic expression. Recyclart Fabrik offers job experiences to people facing challenges in its workshops for wood, metal and upcycling. Bar Recyclart brings people together under the motto “Veggie, vegan or halal, we are all sitting at the same table”.
June 18, 2024
Recyclart is based in a former industrial site in Brussels © Recyclart
Allianz Foundation Hubs are regional platforms from civil society, climate action and arts & culture. They form a European network working on solutions for the pressing societal questions of our times. To meet these challenges, new ways of exchange and cooperation are needed. And a shared vision.
What is your mission?
“For the +25 years of its existence, Recyclart has been combining three goals: promoting the emergence of underrepresented art forms and profiles in a multidisciplinary venue, fostering the professional integration of Brussels residents, and improving urban coexistence.”
What do you do?
“Our actions are organised in three activity sectors: the arts centre, the workshops of Recyclart Fabrik, and the restaurant Bar Recyclart. We offer a diversified and experimental artistic programme – nightlife, concerts, lectures, live performances, participative projects and more – in a venue that can host up to 600 persons. We produce sustainable furniture on demand in our wood, metal, and upcycling workshops. And we propose vegan, veggie and halal meals in our restaurant which acts as a bridge towards our neighbourhood.”
Recyclart also hosts and organises concerts, expositions and performances © Recyclart.
Team members of Recyclart in a workshop belonging to the Hub © Recyclart.
Who are your people and who do you work with?
“The team of Recyclart consists out of appr. 40 co-workers, half of whom are in professional integration programmes, acquiring technical and social skills that empower them for the regular labor market after their experience with us. We maintain operational links with many artistic collectives in and beyond Brussels and with other civil society organisations and enterprises working in circular economy, and we thrive on links with other local players offering community building activities.”
What expectations do you have of your collaboration with the Allianz Foundation Hubs network?
“Over the years, we have built up know-how in our fields of activity in function of our local reality. But we should not just stay by ourselves and in our local network. We believe that the challenges that we tackle through our actions (inclusion and tolerance, access to culture, the need to shift to sustainable production processes) are issues of another dimension than just our regional urban context. The possibility of working together on these shared themes with other hubs, all of them with their specific local or regional reality and emphasis, will give all of us new insights and tools to better realise our missions and to increase our impact facing the challenges of our current societies.”
Recyclart is an urban interdisciplinary laboratory for all kind of artists © Recyclart.
Recyclart Fabrik © Recyclart.
Recyclarts "Garage Pirate" - an event with concerts, performance and expositions © Recyclart.