Ricochet Days | VIERNULVIER resident Meg Stuart & Damaged Goods inhabit S.M.A.K.
Under the banner 'mystery loves company', choreographer Meg Stuart and her company Damaged Goods inhabit S.M.A.K. for a residency from 21 September until 7 November 2026. Together with a diverse group of artists, filmmakers, choreographers and costume designers, Stuart cultivates a space for experimentation, gathering and reflection in close dialogue with the architecture of the museum.
For seven weeks, Room 1 at S.M.A.K. is transformed into a collective laboratory, an extension of the company’s collaborative ecosystem. By moving the studio into the public eye, Ricochet Days becomes a living, embodied archive, continually refracting and reactivating Meg Stuart’s ongoing choreographic research. Exhibition spaces open up to movement improvisation, while the museum archive turns into a film set where bodies are tended with the same care as artworks.
Cyclical figures drive these experiments: gestures of assembling and dismantling, rotation and torque, rebounding and return. Bodies and structures move within a shapeshifting, modular environment. Research unfolds through hybrid practices, ongoing performances and open work sessions. With fictional twists, special effects, and sensorial trajectories, the artists alter the museum's choreography, subtly shifting how visitors navigate the building and relate to the artworks.
The residency’s energy ricochets beyond the institution: live video transmissions and workshops in the park blur the threshold between inside and outside. The museum's transport truck becomes a vehicle for impromptu performances across Ghent.
Ricochet Days is an invitation to witness these artistic processes as they evolve, to step beyond spectatorship, to watch, listen, linger, and converse – in short, to be in company with the artists.
Public Moments
The residency follows a recurring weekly rhythm, balancing public moments with private working processes. Beyond these recurring moments, the creative process itself remains a continuous invitation to step in, through open work sessions, impromptu interventions, chance encounters and stray traces.
Weekly Cycle
Every Wednesday Afternoon – Mobile performance: Using the museum's truck as a mobile stage and meeting place, the artists bring Ricochet Days beyond the museum walls and into the city.
Every Thursday Morning – Open class (10:00-11:30): A weekly practice session led by one of the participating artists. Organised as part of the ongoing process, these sessions are opened up to the public, inviting anyone to join the practice alongside the artists. Whenever weather permits, classes take place in the Citadelpark. Open to all, regardless of experience or background.
Every Thursday Afternoon – Guest artist presentation: Each week, a guest artist joins the team of Ricochet Days for an exchange of practices, perspectives and questions. On Thursday, the week's guest artist hosts a public encounter, which may take the form of a lecture, conversation, screening, demonstration or performance.
The guest artists are:
Week 1 · 22.09–26.09 — Gosie Vervloessem
Week 2 · 29.09–03.10 — Philipp Gehmacher
Week 3 · 06.10–10.10 — Sina Seifee & Misha Downey
Week 4 · 13.10–17.10 — Lucile Desamory
Week 5 · 20.10–24.10 — Peaches
Week 6 · 27.10–31.10 — Contagious (Andrea Neumann, Sabine Ercklentz, Mieko Suzuki)
→ free entry, find more info here
Every Saturday Afternoon – Saturday showing: A public durational practice bringing together the artistic research, encounters and experiments developed throughout the week. Each showing offers a unique constellation of practices, materials and collaborators.
Credits
Participating artists: Raul Aranha, Belmon T. Bendjus, Emily da Silva, Sofie Durnez, Davis Freeman, María Ibarretxe, Márcio Kerber Canabarro, Vladimir Miller, Gašper Piano, Pierre Piton, Nico de Rooij, Isabela Rossi, Yorgos Sapountzis, Meg Stuart, Mieko Suzuki - With guest contributions by: Lázara Rosell Albear, Aline Belfort, Contagious (Andrea Neumann, Sabine Ercklentz, Mieko Suzuki), Lucile Desamory, Misha Downey, Philipp Gehmacher, Isabelle Pauwelyn, Peaches, Sina Seifee, Gosie Vervloessem - Artistic direction: Meg Stuart - Co-curation: Vladimir Miller - Artistic production: Martin Sieweke - Technical coordinator: Tom De Langhe - Sound technician: Wout Clarysse - Production assistant: caterina daniela mora jara - Costume assistant: Abigail Miodownick - Documentation assistant: Anna Šidáková, Heather Stewart - Produced by: Damaged Goods and S.M.A.K. - With the support of: Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER, the Flemish Community and the Flemish Community Commission
