medieval streets and aged brick structures of this thriving tourist city, with its multitude of museums and former monasteries. Te idea is to draw people away from the tourist hotspots and into the quieter corners. In this, curators Shendy Gardin and Stevie Tsampalia have done an excellent job.


There are 12 works placed around the


city. Te first we encounter is by the Swedish architect duo Novell/Rodhe who have created a new community garden, an outdoor living room, from salvaged pieces of marble, timber and stone, sourced from a nearby reclamation yard. We learned, however, that it was already being used by locals as a garden, but perhaps more will be drawn to it now. In which case, it accords with the Triennial theme Spaces of Possibility, as does Mexican artist Mariana


Castillo Debali’s Firesong For Te Bees. A sturdy timber frame, adorned with clay pots made by Debali, to echo ancient bee-related vessels (for smoking out hives, gathering honey), supported three active hives, provided (and tended to) by local beekeepers. It aims to highlight the perilous depletion of our bee populations while drawing visitors into the small but charming Sebrechtspark. Adding further fascination to an overlooked garden was US architecture practice SO-IL’s Common Tread, an undulating octopus of silvery knitted tunnels (created with Dr Mariana Popescu of TU Delft and Summum Engineering) that invite exploration, while celebrating a sleepy garden behind a former Capuchin monastery. Meanwhile, Palestinian-British artist Mona


Hatoum added a darker note with a swing placed within a grey-brick lined structure embedded in a grassy mound in the public garden of Bruges’ psychiatric hospital – speaking of constraint, but also offering, as she said, ‘the possibility of freedom’. Both festivals are impressive in scope and scale. As Morison noted, one of the most inspiring aspects of working on his commission was doing so for a cultural sector that seems well run, funded and appreciated, unlike in his UK homeland. I wish both Triennials well. And I suspect that it’s not just us northern European neighbours this region will appeal to: a windswept and rainy coast may soon become vastly preferable to a scorched, southern European one.


FROM LEFT: VERONICA SIMPSON


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