main partner
23—26.04.26 Brussels Expo
main partner
22,48 m² / AFIKARIS / ATM / Backslash / BRITTA RETTBERG / DMW Gallery / EDJI Gallery / Emergent / Encounter / FABIENNE LEVY / FRED&FERRY / Galerie Anne Barrault / Galerie Dix9 – Hélène Lamarchoise / Galerie Fontana / Galerie Russi Klenner / Gallery Falko Alexander / House of Chappaz / Josilda da Conceição / Matèria / MONITOR / NADAN / Night Café / No Man’s Art Gallery / OFFICE IMPART / Pizza Gallery / RAVNIKAR / RESERVOIR / Robert Grunenberg / Simbart Projects / SITUATIONS / SMAC Gallery / SUPPAN / The Drawing Room / The Tiger Room / Tom Reichstein contemporary / Working Title / ZALUCKY
In this section of the fair, discover galleries that actively support emerging international artists hosting booths with a single artist presentation or an interesting dialogue between two artists who are not yet known in the European context, and whose practices constitute a real ‘discovery’ for collectors.
Formerly known as the Discovery Prize, this award reaffirms its commitment to supporting emerging artists and enriching museum collections. Rather than rewarding the winning gallery for the best booth presentation in the Discovery section, the prize now takes the form, for the second time, of an acquisition budget of up to €10,000 for the purchase of an artwork destined for a museum collection.
For the 42nd edition of the fair, the jury will select a work to be donated to the collection of the Museum of Ixelles. The selected artwork will be included in the museum’s inaugural exhibition in early 2027, marking its reopening after more than eight years of renovation. By directly supporting both an emerging artist and a museum institution, the Discovery Acquisition Prize fulfils the aspirations of the artist and gallery while making a lasting contribution to a public collection.
Supported by Moleskine
The jury is pleased to announce the acquisition of works by Kasper De Vos, Lena Marie Emrich, and Alejandra Caicedo. These acquisitions reflect the Ixelles Museum’s intention to strengthen the dialogue between its historical heritage and emerging contemporary creation. In anticipation of its reopening in March 2027, the museum is consolidating its artistic narrative by integrating voices that question the object, the body, and territory—three pillars of its collection.
A few words about Kasper De Vos, represented by Pizza Gallery from Antwerp and Ghent
His work explores folklore, local history, and art through a conceptual and poetic lens. His inclusion helps bridge the museum’s 19th- and 20th-century Belgian art collections (such as surrealism or abstraction), by reinterpreting the codes of popular culture and everyday materials.
About Lena Marie Emrich, represented by OFFICE IMPART from Berlin
A sculptor based between Brussels and Berlin, she creates objects with smooth, industrial finishes that examine resilience and human interaction. Her work brings a minimalist “object-sculpture” dimension that resonates with the multidisciplinary contemporary ensembles already present at Ixelles.
About Alejandra Caicedo, represented by Tom Reichstein from Hamburg
An Afro-Latin American artist, she works on migration, identity, and memory through painting and sculpture. Her approach introduces a necessary political and intimate perspective, enriching the museum’s 21st-century art panorama by offering a contemporary counterpoint to the collection’s more classical themes.
The Ixelles Museum will present these three acquisitions in March 2027 for its reopening and wishes to thank Moleskine and Art Brussels for their support in this acquisition.
DIASPARAGMOS, 2026.
Sunbed covered with Car paint.
59 x 64 x 12 cm
With OFFICE IMPART
gesneden geslepen gespleten, 2026.
Wood, pencil, acrylic paint.
With Pizza Gallery
Untitled, 2026.
Acylic on canvas.
150 x 120 cm
With TOM REICHSTEIN
Museum Director, Museum of Ixelles, Brussels
Doctor of Art History (ULB) and a specialist in Belgian art, Claire Leblanc has pursued a museum career for nearly three decades.
After holding a position as a researcher at the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent (1997–1999), followed by a role as a scientific collaborator at the Royal Museums of Art and History (1999–2006), she has served as Director of the Ixelles Museum since 2006.
Since 2018, she and her team have been leading an extensive project involving the renovation and expansion of the museum, as well as a comprehensive institutional and curatorial redevelopment.
She has curated numerous exhibitions and is the author of essays and books devoted to Belgian art, its history, and its contemporary developments.
© Julie Delvaux
Curator of Spacious Projects and Artistic Coordinator, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Horya Makhlouf is an Artistic Coordinator and Curator for Special Projects at the Palais de Tokyo since 2024. She is also an art historian, author, and independent art critic. She writes for artists, journals, and art institutions, and has contributed to the podcasts L’esprit critique (Mediapart), PQSD (Jeunes Critiques d’Art), and Verni•es (Projets Media).
Recent curatorial projects include “Octogone. Chalisée Naamani” (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 12.06–07.09.2025), “Une Affaire de famille” (CAC Passerelle, Brest, 24.10.2024 —25.01.2025), the Nuit Blanche program at Césure (Paris, 2023), and the co-curation of “Crush” (ENSBA, 06.03 – 16.03.2025); “Banlieues Chéries” (MNHI – Palais de la Porte dorée, Paris, 09.04 – 07.08.2025); “LA ELLE” by Renée Levi (Palais de Tokyo, 2024); and A Chamber of Echoes – Homage to Akira Toriyama (Palais de Tokyo, April 2024).
© Antoine Aphesbero
Head of Exhibitions, Le Botanique, Brussels
Gregory Thirion was co-founder and director of the internationally renowned D+T Project gallery (2010-2016) and is currently head and programmer of the exhibition department at the Cultural Centre of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation – Le Botanique. He has collaborated with various Belgian organisations, including the MAC’s at Grand-Hornu, the Ottignies-Louvain-La-Neuve Triennial, the Brussels Architecture Film Festival, the Parcours d’artistes de Saint-Gilles and the Halles de Schaerbeek. He has been an active member (2021-2025) and vice-president (2024-2025) of the FWB’s Consultative Commission for the Visual Arts.
In 2021, he became a member of the purchasing commission of the Ixelles Museum.
Since 2024, he has been an administrator of the Brussels Museum and the newly formed federation asap, the assembly of visual arts structures, the first federation of operators in the sector in French-speaking Belgium.
Grégory Thirion collaborates with other Belgian and international institutions. In particular, he co-curated the Tipping Point exhibition at La Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille in the summer of 2025 with Adrien Grimmeau, director of ISELP (Brussels).
2025 — FRED&FERRY (Antwerp) with a work by Thomas Verstraeten
2024 — Lutniţa gallery with Diana Cepleanu (RO) and Mihail Șarpe (MD)
2023 — Capsule Shanghai with Curtis Talwst Santiago
2022 — House of Chappaz (ES) & Joey Ramone (NL) with Momu & No Es
2019 — NOME (DE) with Goldin+Senneby & tegenboschvanvreden (NL) with Sander Breure & Witte van Hulzen
2018 — SMAC Gallery (SA) with Georgina Gratrix
2017 — Harlan Levey Projects (BE)
2016 — BWA Warszawa (PL)
2015 — La Veronica (IT) & Maskara (IN)
2014 — Jousse Entreprise (FR)
2013 — D+T Project (BE)