You are cordially invited to the press preview to discover both exhibitions in the company of Bendt Eyckermans and the curators on Thursday 29 October 2026 at 11:00 am. Please let us know if you will attend by contacting fran.bombeke@smak.be.

S.M.A.K. presents a major exhibition dedicated to the work of Ana Lupas, one of the leading artists from Eastern Europe. On Ritual Time has been conceived in the final phase of Lupas’s artistic career and life. Alongside her own work, the exhibition also features works by her late partner, the artist S P A T A R U. The exhibition thus takes on the character of a deeply personal artistic testament, looking back on seven decades of a multifaceted body of work, ranging from textile art to monumental in situ projects.

Ana Lupas (b. 1940, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) has devoted seven decades to artistic practice, initially working with textiles. Drawing on inherited techniques such as weaving, sewing, knotting and braiding, she developed a contemporary visual language at a time when Fiber Art was emerging as an artistic movement. A monumental presentation of her earliest textile works, Prapori 1961–1964, comprising 53 free-standing textile works never displayed in their entirety, is one of the exhibition’s highlights.

Lupas’ engagement with crafts, ancestral knowledge, rituals, and spiritual traditions was further expressed through collaborative works with rural and peasant communities and monumental in situ projects. The exhibition presents some of her most important works such as Wreaths of August (1964-2008) and Humid Installation (1970). Drawing on rural traditions, rituals, and forms of collective labour associated with the harvest, both works expand the possibilities of artistic form while reconceiving art as a social practice rooted in communal experience. While revealing affinities with neo-avant-garde movements such as performance, actions and Land Art, Lupas’s work remains deeply rooted in the cultural and historical context of Transylvania.

An exhibition as a ritual gesture

In addition to the production of new work, Lupas regularly revisits and reconfigures existing works, letting them evolve with changing social and political contexts. A similar cyclical understanding of artistic production shapes the exhibition, which brings together rarely exhibited works; some presented in new configurations.

The inclusion of works by Romanian artist S P A T A R U (Mircea Spătaru, 1937-2011) further opens the exhibition toward questions of shared memory, loss, and artistic transmission. Throughout his artistic career, he developed an oeuvre marked by constant research and experimentation. As both an artist and a teacher, S P A T A R U, like Lupas, left a significant mark on subsequent generations of artists in Romania. On Ritual Time therefore becomes more than an art-historical presentation: it can be comprehended as a ritual of remembrance in itself.

First institutional exhibition in Belgium

This is Ana Lupas’ first institutional exhibition in Belgium and is accompanied by the publication of a monograph dedicated to her oeuvre, a co-production between Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; and S.M.A.K.

Over the past years, Ana Lupas’s oeuvre has undergone a strong international reappraisal. Her works are included in major institutional collections such as Tate Modern, London; Musée National d’art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; Museion Bolzano; and the Ludwig Museum, Budapest.

S.M.A.K. presents Ana Lupas’s work as part of its commitment to broadening the canon of Western art. As a female artist from Romania, Lupas offers a perspective that challenges dominant narratives of post-war and contemporary art, while drawing attention to artistic practices shaped by different political, social and cultural contexts.

An interview or visit with the artist and curator can be arranged by appointment. Please contact fran.bombeke@smak.be.

From 31 October 2026 to 21 February 2027, S.M.A.K. presents the first institutional solo exhibition of Belgian artist Bendt Eyckermans. The Passenger brings together a series of recent works he has made over the past three years. His paintings are highly narrative, incorporating elements from his everyday surroundings – objects from his studio, friends, or details from the street – into dreamlike, mysterious compositions. In addition to paintings, the exhibition also features sculptural elements, a short film, and drawings that offer an unprecedented insight into Eyckermans’ thought process.

In recent years, Bendt Eyckermans (Antwerp, b. 1994) has gained international recognition for his almost cinematic visual language, steeped in suggestion and mystery. His characters inhabit an indeterminate state, depicted in scenes rendered in a muted colour palette with a striking use of light sources. Although Eyckermans, as a painter, is fascinated by art history, his practice is also strongly influenced by photography and film. By borrowing techniques from these media that suggest movement, the artist circumvents one of painting’s limitations: the static image.

In his most recent work at S.M.A.K., Eyckermans alternates between interiors and street scenes. The artist explores how we relate to our surroundings, both to the objects we collect and surround ourselves with, and to the spaces we inhabit, which in turn help shape our identity. Whether scaffolding, markings on façades, or memories we associate with a particular place, these are things that unconsciously become part of who we are, our surroundings, and our way of thinking.

Spatial elements, drawings and short film

Eyckermans also adds several spatial elements to the exhibition, some of which appear in his paintings, enhancing the sense that we are stepping into his world. A sculpture of a manhole cover, for example, not only refers to the urban environment, but also carries symbolic meaning. It provides access to the underworld, just as Eyckermans’ work delves into the subconscious.

Alongside the paintings and spatial elements, Eyckermans also presents a substantial number of drawings that offer an unprecedented insight into his thought process. At the beginning of the exhibition, visitors can also watch a brand-new video essay that serves as an immersion into Eyckermans’ universe.