ENCORE

On 17 and 18 October, ENCORE is taking over the Kaaistudios garage and setting up the ENCORE bar there. 

For two days, it’ll be a place to drink, eat and socialise. The garage will also host Robert Andy Coombs’ Fire Island, a series of Polaroids, as well as a selection of publications from Crash Room. On Saturday, there’ll be pizzas and a stand-up show by Henri and Jean-François. 

The garage will become the event’s central meeting point. We’ll meet there before the performances, readings and workshops; we’ll pop back between events; or simply stay there. 

This second edition of ENCORE explores different ways of talking about the body, intimacy, desire, care and our relationships with others. Photography, performances, readings and workshops will complement one another throughout the weekend. 

ENCORE stems from an observation. Whilst there are many organisations focused on disability, there is still a lack of spaces where people can simply live their lives, rather than merely being cared for. 

ENCORE is conceived, built and run by people with disabilities, neurodivergent individuals and those living with chronic illness. Those directly affected are not merely the beneficiaries of the project; they also decide what takes shape. 

The project aims to strengthen our capacity to take action, to raise the profile of voices that are all too often ignored, and to shift the way in which disability is perceived. 

ENCORE does not yet have a permanent venue. The venue is under construction. The project itself, however, is already up and running in Brussels. 

ENCORE is a project initiated and curated by Moussa Cheniguel, curator and the founder of ENCORE. In Brussels, he created and ran Espace Moss, a performance space where people came to experience having their hair cut whilst surrounded by a work of art. Following a spinal cord injury in 2020, his work has shifted towards issues of disability, autonomy, representation and access.