Two days in Brussels brought LAND’s matchmaking phase to a close: partners met alongside the Feral festival to confirm the artist matches for France, the Netherlands and Slovakia. The matchmaking phase began with spring visits in each territory, where local partners and visiting colleagues read the landscape together and turned those readings into briefs. The residencies now move into preparation for 2025.
Brussels felt like the right place for this moment. With the Feral festival sparking conversations about public space across the city, LAND’s partners gathered for a focused working session: revisit the briefs shaped in spring, look carefully at a longlist of practices, and agree the matches that will carry Transitioning Landscapes forward.
The discussion stayed close to the landscapes and to the people who live with them. Each country reintroduced its context and briefs, then we weighed up which practices could speak to those places — and to our audiences — with clarity and care. Along the way, we checked the overall balance of the programme and underlined a simple commitment: the residencies should welcome diverse publics and perspectives, and the work of reaching those audiences sits with the host organisations as much as with the artists.
By the end of day two, matches were agreed for all three territories. One practical decision will shape how the residencies unfold in France and the Netherlands: instead of tying artists to a single topic from the outset, hosts will invite them to draw from both local transitions in their territory and refine the focus during fieldwork. It keeps the work responsive to what’s found on the ground.
What happens next is straightforward. Hosts will confirm schedules with the selected artists and begin on-site preparation; we’ll introduce each artist and their context in a short “meet the artist” series through the autumn, and share residency timelines as they’re set. The public moments follow in 2025.
