Already exhausted and it is only 2PM on day 1: our D.A.T.E. visitors sure have a lot to take in on their short stay in Antwerp. I joined the Antwerp 13 for a tour at the . Wonderburo is a project by the Belgian company FMT that finds temporary solutions for vacant buildings. Since the old finance office at the Frankrijklei does not have a new purpose yet, the rooms are now taken up as studio space for artists and other creatives.
Wonderburo is a 7-floor building filled with talent. From fashion designers to music producers and typographers: it gathers some sort of artistic Avengers team. In that case the Antwerp 13 must be the creative version of the Justice League (and that’s my last comic book analogy). There is not-your-average food blogger Anna Küfer and Shirin Mirachor who has one of the most fun society critical blogs. Hagar Elazari builds light installations. Alicja McCarthy and Nana Hagel both write about travel, but just like Marta Vargas’ and Pawel Nolbert’s graphic design they could not be any more different. Oonagh Murphy is a theatre director and lecturer, Sean Santiago is a creative editor/consultant, while Margot van der Krogt has a talent for bringing other creative talents together.
We first met the guys from , a communication bureau dedicated to giving artists the exposure that they deserve. This is right in D.A.T.E. member Nabil Nadifi’s alley, whose art blog highlights cool exhibitions and artists. Communication designer Luca Ponticelli seemed to have had an inspiring talk with the Panache team.
On the other side of the building The Mood Studio plans the perfect atmosphere for fashion events. Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Wijnants (who also resides at Wonderburo) are only two names of their impressive client list. The vibe at The Mood Studio did not haphazardly remind me of a Dries Van Noten runway show.
The urban record label KijkenMag is the next stop. The label was lucky enough to sign the upcoming Belgian rapper . This studio was in particular interesting for Ryan Leech, who owns his own record and clothing label . I too was impressed by the amazing record collection on display, going from Nas’ Illmatic to Black Star.
Finally we met Louison Libertin, who had such a beautiful name he was bound to have it printed on perfume bottles one day. His atelier took a strong claim on my senses. Louison is the only perfume designer in Belgium and his fragrances can only be found in niche stores.
The 13 D.A.T.E. members of 2016 have already done so much and are still full of potential. I was glad to see they showed so much interest for the artists at the Wonderburo. My online reading list has been expanded massively and I can surely recommend having a look at our D.A.T.E. guests’ websites too!
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Text and pics by Tine Van den Poel