TheMerode explores the artistic connections between Belgium and Brazil through the exhibition Energia
From September 3, 2025 to March 31, 2026, TheMerode presents Energia, an exhibition dedicated to the artistic dialogue between Belgium and Brazil. Organised in collaboration with the art magazine GLEAN and curated by Benedicte Goesaert and Kathleen Weyts, the show brings together works by around thirty Belgian and Brazilian artists, including Kasper Bosmans, Elen Braga, Dirk Braeckman, Anna Bella Geiger, Otobong Nkanga, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Lia D Castro, Antonio Obá, and Cildo Meireles.
Presenting art in the intimate spaces of The Merode, where people meet, work, and exchange ideas, is both challenging and rewarding. This is also one of the founding principles of the exhibition. The curators of Energia see artworks as sources of energy that speak for themselves. They have the power to inspire, provoke questions, spark conversations, and awaken curiosity.
Energia offers a glimpse into the artistic presence in the Belgian-Brazilian landscape, exploring the various forms of energy that emerge through stories, experiences, knowledge, encounters, exchanges and, of course, artworks. This landscape encompasses more than just the geography of the countries defined as Belgium and Brazil. It consists of different layers and dynamics, both visible and invisible. It brings together various forms of expression, initiating an open dialogue between artists of different generations and backgrounds.
The concept of 'Energia' sparks conversations about the human condition, spirituality, nature, the body, politics, movement, creation, resilience, and visual poetry.
It features works by Marlene Almeida, Bruno Baptistelli, Kasper Bosmans, Paloma Bosquê, Amélie Bouvier, Dirk Braeckman, Elen Braga, Lieven De Boeck, Lia D Castro, Julien Creuzet, Marcin Dudek, Pélagie Gbaguidi, Anna Bella Geiger, Bart Lodewijks, Fernando Penteado Marques, Cildo Meireles, Jota Mombaça, Paulo Monteiro, Otobong Nkanga, Antonio Obá, Els Opsomer, Camille Orso, Dalton Paula, Rosana Paulino, Marina Rheingantz, Sebastião Salgado, Rebecca Sharp, Paula Siebra, Luc Tuymans, Philippe Van Snick, Regina Vater, Erika Verzutti, Aline Xavier, and others.
Curatorial Notes
Often, we look at an artwork as an object, a physical entity, rather than approaching it as a living mechanism. However, when we engage with it, we discover that it can act as a mirror or a portal to a world that stirs our imagination and emotions. Artists cross physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and energetic borders, and through their work they enable us to do the same. They travel between rural areas and cities, countries and continents. They move between art institutions, residencies, exhibitions, galleries, artist-run spaces, and collections. Their presence or absence is noticed, experienced and documented. Encounters may be indifferent or distant, fluid, ephemeral, consistent, curious or unexpected. New bonds and friendships form, whether temporary or lifelong. Questions emerge, as do answers.
What does it mean to be present in a certain place at a certain time?
Does this influence the way we look, experience, feel, think, behave and love?
Does our perspective shift? Do we speak each other’s 'language'? Do we need to?
What kind of energy floats through the air? Can we feel it?
— Benedicte Goesaert & Kathleen Weyts
Practical information
ENERGIA
Artistic presence in the Belgian–Brazilian landscape
A project by GLEAN & Benedicte for TheMerode
Curated by Benedicte Goesaert and Kathleen Weyts
From September 3, 2025 to March 31, 2026
TheMerode
Place Poelaert 6, 1000 Bruxelles
https://www.themerode.com
Press contact
Club Paradis
Micha Pycke
+32 (0)486 680 070
micha@clubparadis.be
About TheMerode
TheMerode is a private members club that opened in November 2021, located in a listed townhouse in the heart of Brussels. It brings together over 2,000 members—40% of whom are women—from a wide range of nationalities, including Belgian, French, Italian, Dutch, and German. The club offers a peaceful workspace, private lounges, two restaurants, and a year-round programme of more than 150 talks, workshops, and events.
Notable guests welcomed in recent months include: Luc Tuymans, Jeanne Brun, Julien Creuzet, Francesca Gavin, Carla Arocha, Pascale Naessens, Christine Ockrent, Ilham Kadri, Nelly Rodi, Michelle Yeoh, Diane Govaerts, Selah Sue, Sophie Wilmes, Diane Von Furstenberg, Blanche de Richemont, Oliver Stone, François Hollande, Mathieu Ricard, Jean Todt, Alexandre Mars, Satish Kumar, Lukas Dhont, James Vincent, Bertrand Piccard, and Lorenzo Gatto.
The Merode mansion, originally built in the 16th century, was first renovated in 2010 by the Cercle de Lorraine and later transformed by TheMerode team a decade later. The building has been a listed heritage site since 1997. Renovation works were overseen by the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, with finishes crafted by Belgian artisan Eddy Dankers.
Art is an integral part of the TheMerode experience. Under the direction of Emmanuelle Indekeu, temporary exhibitions regularly highlight both emerging and established artists. The club collaborates with institutions such as La Monnaie, Art Brussels, the Venice Biennale, and the Queen Elisabeth Competition.
Two restaurants and a cocktail bar are located on site. CIAO, open to the public and led by chef Leonardo Iacometti and sommelier Sonia Capriolo, serves modern Italian cuisine and is featured in the 2024 Michelin and Gault & Millau guides. TheStables, operated by JML, offers a more casual menu, from breakfast to evening cocktails.
Lastly, ökēn provides a discreet and sensory cocktail experience, combining inventive mixology, immersive architecture, and curated music programming. Conceived as a hidden gem at the heart of TheMerode, ökēn welcomes both members and non-members for evenings that blend tasting with a refined, intimate atmosphere.
TheMerode is a certified B-Corp, a recognition of its commitment to sustainable, inclusive, and responsible practices. As an active player rooted in its local ecosystem, TheMerode aims to give back to society by supporting talent, culture, and education for the benefit of communities and future generations.
About The Curators
Benedicte Goesaert is a Belgium-based curator and art advisor. In 2020, she founded Benedicte, an independent art service dedicated to curatorial projects, exhibitions, collecting guidance, and legacy care. With over a decade of experience—including her role as director at Zeno X Gallery (2011–2019)—she works closely with artists, collectors, and institutions across both local and international spheres.
Her practice is grounded in Belgium, yet shaped by a sustained engagement with artistic communities in Brazil and South Africa, nurtured through three in-depth journeys and ongoing dialogue. She is drawn to places where art is created with urgency, sensitivity, and embodied knowledge—beyond the purely intellectual. This attention to emotional resonance and intuitive understanding informs both her curatorial work and her approach to advising collectors.
Kathleen Weyts is the editor-in-chief of GLEAN, the Brussels based magazine for contemporary art, published quarterly in English and in Dutch. From 2019 to 2023 she was the director of HART magazine, (the predecessor of GLEAN). She is a writer, lecturer and consultant in art management. She is the curator of Open Space, Open Mind, the renewed installation of the ING Art Collection at Marnix, the bank’s Headquarters in Brussels. She is president of the board of Moussem Nomadic Arts Center. She was formerly the director of CAHF, Contemporary Art Heritage Flanders, she worked in Mu.ZEE, Ostend, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, M HKA, Antwerp and she co-curated the exhibitions ‘Somewhere in Between. Contemporary Art Scenes in Europe’, ‘Imagine Europe, In Search of New Narratives’ and the symposium ‘Variations on Vulnerability’, all at Bozar, Brussels.
Her practice is grounded in Belgium, shapen through a lifelong engagement with European art scenes and their multiple networks in Africa, the Maghreb and beyond. She is a strong believer that art requires slow attention, looking back as well as forward – in-depth discussing, listening, reading, (re)thinking. To look at art, write about it and curate it is for her a slow, precise and constantly evolving pursuit.