In the very Limburg town of Hasselt, there is a wonderful, well known Fashion Museum. Literally two streets away from it is another museum that deserves a spotlight. Especially since it underwent a total renovation in 2020, done with great taste. I sympathise with the tradition of naming museums and galleries after the address where they are located – as a tribute to the ‘genius of the place’. The history of the museum is a bit confusing, at first glance, but I suggest we delve into it together:
The biography of the Z33 Museum goes back a long way, with roots in the Beguinage of Hasselt, founded back in the 13th century. The Beguinages – independent women who lived between worldly life and monastic traditions – created their own special community here. Over time, the beguinage became empty and its buildings found a new destiny. In 1996, one of them became an exhibition space, named ‘Z33’ after the address at Zuivelmarkt 33.
In 2020, the centre opened its doors in a new location on Bonnefantenstraat 1. The architectural marvel, which combines the historic Vleugel 58 building and the futuristic Vleugel 19 gallery by Italian architect Francesca Torzo, has become not just a home for art, but a work of art in itself. Z33 has won prestigious architectural awards for this project. It is not just a museum, but a living space for contemporary art, design and architecture in Limburg’s Hasselt. There are no permanent collections here – only bright, bold, sometimes provocative exhibitions that make you think about social, cultural and scientific processes.
Оne of them opens on 30 March 2025: ‘Modelling Life’.
We shape the world around us, but it also shapes us – literally and metaphorically. The spaces we live in become a reflection of our identities, values and expectations. Through the work of 14 Belgian and international artists, the exhibition reveals modelling as a tool for constructing worlds – both internal and external. How do we create ourselves in this (un)constructed space? How do schemes, models and concepts become the reference points of our existence?
Especially for Z33, Kasper Bosmans and Christiane Blattmann have created large-scale new works, offering a fresh perspective on the art of modelling as a way of understanding the world and ourselves in it.
