Public opening — Postcolonial? exhibition
Join us at the House of European History in Brussels for the public opening of Postcolonial? — an evening of performance, sound and collective reflection.
- Date
- 17 April 2026, 18:30-23:00 (CEST)
- Location
- House of European History, 135 Rue Belliard/straat, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Join us on Friday 17 April!
Dive into the exhibition’s powerful questions about colonial legacies and their lasting impact in today’s world. Through guided tours, artistic interventions, and shared experiences, the galleries come alive as spaces of encounter, memory, and exchange.
From moving performances by La Candidate, DJ JOKI and Ilda Vaz, to hands-on block printing with Indikon, guided tours in the exhibition space, and East African–inspired refreshments by Utamu Collective, this opening is more than a launch — it’s an invitation to gather, reflect, and engage together.
Practical information
No registration required – free entry
please book in advance for guided tours
All visitors and bags
will be subject to airport-style security checks before entry
Event line-up
DJ JOKI — DJ set
DJ JOKI | 18:30 - 23:00
First floor tablet area.
JOKI’s DJ set offers a musical journey shaped by diasporic influences. Starting with atmospheric sounds and gradually building toward a more festive energy, the set creates a shared sonic space that accompanies the evening’s activities and invites visitors to linger, connect, and celebrate together.
La Candidate – Coming back to voice
La Candidate | 18:30 and 19:15
Pop-up performative intervention outside museum on stairs, Fables Room, tablet area, cafeteria.
A series of pop-up performances unfolding across different spaces of the exhibition, La Candidate brings together seven reconstructed public speeches delivered over the past decade by migrant women activists. Rooted in lived experience, the performance traces recent struggles for regularisation and visibility, foregrounding collective voice, political agency, and feminist resistance in public space.
Postcolonial? guided tours
19:30 - 21:30. Exhibition galleries, duration - 30 minutes.
Discover the deep historical ties between colonialism and racism in this 30-minute guided tour. Through a selection of compelling artworks and objects, the tour uncovers how colonial expansion moulded political, economic, and social systems - structures that continue to influence power, wealth, and inequality today.
19:30 - register for tour in English
20:00 - register for tour in French
20:30 - register for tour in English
21:00 - register for tour in French
Indikon – Block Printing Workshop
Indikon | 19:30 - 21:30
Fables Room, no registration needed, workshop language: English.
Duration approximately 30 minutes.
Inspired by the traditional Indian technique of block printing, this hands-on workshop invites participants to experiment with printing on paper and textile. Visitors can also contribute to a collective installation by hanging their printed creations. Accompanied by visuals on the history of the practice, the workshop connects craft, storytelling, and collective making.
Ilda Vaz – Vocal Performance
Ilda Vaz | 20:00 - 21:30
Exhibition galleries.
At the end of each guided tour, Ilda Vaz will perform a traditional song in the galleries. These intimate vocal moments offer pauses for reflection, weaving ancestral memory and embodied knowledge into the exhibition experience.
Utamu Collective – Refreshments
Utamu | 18:30 - 23:00
VIP Room and Cafeteria.
Utamu Collective curates the evening’s refreshments, offering East African–inspired fusion food and drinks. Their presence brings a convivial dimension to the opening, combining hospitality with cultural connection.
