Two new performances co-produced by Sharjah Art Foundation are premiering at this year’s Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels—A Flower of Forgetfulness by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Us by Maria Hassabi.

Weerasethakul’s A Flower of Forgetfulness unfolds within the chapel space of Les Brigittines. A suspended white fabric serves as a shifting screen for projected images that emerge and dissolve through folds and shadows, evoking fragments of memory and loss. Drawing on personal archives and visual diaries, the work reflects on recent genocides and moments of erasure.

A metal tower invites viewers to take in the space from shifting vantage points. It evokes both the anticipation of a rocket launch and the quiet pause of a platform made for watching sunsets. From this height, the visual landscape converges with two parallel narratives. In one, visitors ascend Sigiriya—an ancient rock fortress in Sri Lanka—their footsteps ringing against metal stairs. In the other, two figures reach across continents, their exchange suggesting the delicate, fleeting nature of memory. A Flower of Forgetfulness unifies these stories to conjure a mesmerising experience perched between cinema and performance.

The other Foundation co-production, Hassabi's latest group choreography Us, reimagines the stage as a narrow, linear space structured around a single bench. Five performers move through a sequence of meticulously composed tableaux, their bodies suspended between rest, anticipation and observation, sustaining a continuous tension within their unfolding narrative.

The bench becomes at once a support, a display, and a frame for the choreography. Facing the audience, the performers establish a parallel field of attention. Alone and together, among themselves and with the audience, they negotiate presence moment by moment.

Together, A Flower of Forgetfulness and Us reflect Sharjah Art Foundation’s ongoing commitment to support innovative performance practices and foster international artistic exchange.

Kunstenfestivaldesarts runs from 8 to 30 May 2026.

Find out more and book your tickets through kfda.be