rare vogels // 24 residents weekend

Sam Comerford - tenor saxophone

Composer and saxophonist Sam Comerford presents a solo tenor saxophone set at Walter. Following the release of his critically acclaimed album "Stillorgan" with the trio Thunderblender in 2020, he turned to his background in Irish traditional music, and has been working for some years now to bring together the wild energy and madness of the music of his homeland with the avant-garde language and conventions of jazz and improvised music. Playing solo, he will deconstruct and reconstruct the music of his past, breaking apart himself and the music in the process. Sam is a PhD researcher and lecturer at KASK & Conservatorium, Ghent, and this set is part of his research based upon traditional Irish fiddle player Tommie Potts.

After his solo, Sam will be talking about his work and research. Informal. On Walter's canape.

Classical composer Olivier Messiaen (1908–92) heard in colors, he developed a very rich and recognisable musical language. His harmonic ideas have fascinated jazz performers for some time. During his recent doctorate research at KU Leuven, Bo did a systematic study on how they could translate organically into jazz practice. Being an improvising musician, his research is based on real-life situations and practice-based methods. They are accessible to all experienced improvising musicians interested in enriching their vocabulary. During this workshop, Bo will briefly present the core concepts of his research and explain basic methods for using the colors of Messiaen in jazz composition and improvisation. It's open and free for you, if you register your participation via the ticket link.

Doorlopend te bezoeken
vrijdag 6 december, 19 tot 22 uur
zaterdag 7 december, 18 tot 22 uur
zondag 8 december, 17 tot 22 uur (in aanwezigheid van de kunstenaars/artists will be present)

infinitif / à reclasser

Across from Werkplaats Walter stands another building undergoing renovation: The Brussels Museum of Resistance. During the renovations, its archive has been relocated to the basement of the civil affairs department. Over several visits, Jelle Martens and Tim Bruggeman (INFINITIF) explored the archive’s contents, gradually creating a shadow archive in their shared digital storage. They organized the material and sought ways to bring it to light. What began as plans for a publication evolved into a film, and then back into a publication. During the residency weekend, they will present À Reclasser alongside eight other recent artist publications from INFINITIF.

extant / there might be birds

In There Might Be Birds sound artists Maarten Buyl and Raphael Malfliet engage in a long-term dialogue with Werkplaats Walter 2.0. This location, which undergoes a year-long transition of demolition and renovation, is unraveled and dissected through an artistic practice of field recordings and conversations. Through sonic layers, we hear how sound, time, and space intertwine and create a dynamic portrait of a place and community.
During the residency weekend, Maarten and Raphael will share a selection of their recordings. A sound installation where snapshots sketch a sonic image of the renovations.

haring books / stadslichaam/corps de ville

Onder de naam Haring Books ontwikkelt Sarah Michielsen een veelzijdige kunstpraktijk waarmee ze bruggen slaat tussen kunst, zorg en mentaal welbevinden. Haring Books zet zich in om mensen met elkaar in verbinding te brengen en hanteert daarbij een doordachte, cocreatieve aanpak.
In 2024 was Haring Books artist in residence op Bizet Bizar, een voormalige parking in Anderlecht die werd omgevormd tot buurttuin. Tijdens haar residentie onderzoekt Michielsen hoe het menselijk lichaam als onderdeel van een groter stadslichaam beschouwd kan worden. Buurtbewoners en organisaties worden uitgenodigd om de plek zintuiglijk te exploreren en lichamelijke gewaarwordingen beeldend te vertalen. Haring Books toont een tussentijds verslag van dit onderzoek.

Bizet Bizar was a two-year project by Dear pigs, Werkplaats Walter and MUS-E Belgium. The aim of Bizet Bizar was to transform a former parking lot into a green zone with socio-cultural activities for and with local residents and Brussels residents. From 2022 until 2024 the site ceased to be a parking lot. What it was, shifted according to the moment and the conversation partner: a place in full evolution, with room for experiment. Or as a visitor to the Jardin de Jordi during the summer of 2023 put it: “Ici, tout est possible!”.

The big closing party of Bizet Bizar became the festival Double You Double You, on 5, 6 and 7 July 2024. Three days, filled with twelve experiments by een-twee in which improvising musicians were linked to events that you normally encounter in a park.
Kris Verdonck saw birds and bees and captured the spirit of Bizet Bizar in a short film.

Lieve De Sadeleer - blokfluit
Suzan Peeters - accordeon
Jeroen Uyttendaele - klankinstallatie

Suzan Peeters is een Belgische accordeonist, improvisator en geluidskunstenaar. Peeters experimenteert met het akoestisch klankspectrum van de accordeon en wil dat spectrum uitbreiden via nieuwe speeltechnieken, een massagebord, transducers en live electronics. 

Nadat ze een aantal dagen solo van start ging, nodigde Suzan Peeters tijdens haar residentietraject in Walter twee compagnons uit: blokfluitist Lieve De Sadeleer en klankkunstenaar Jeroen Uyttendaele. Alledrie verkennen ze de grenzen van het eigen instrument. Jeroen Uyttendaele onderzoekt in zijn installatie de resonantie van verschillende materialen zoals glas, metaal en keramiek. De installatie bestaat uit drie metalen luidsprekers en fungeert als een grote geluidsfilter waarbij klank zich door verschillende materialen voortbeweegt. De installatie wordt aangestuurd door de klanken van Suzan en Lieve.

Ook in december rondt Suzan haar residentietraject af bij de collega's van Rataplan. Suzan nodigt er schilder en beeldend kunstenaar Marilou Dejans uit. Samen gaan ze op zoek naar visuele elementen in de muzikale performance.
Het eindresultaat ontdek je tijdens Interlinie, een nieuw concept van het Amsterdamse muziekplatform Space is the Place. Een van de haltes is Rataplan, op zaterdag 14 december 2024. Dit driedaagse evenement heeft tot doel het Nederlandse en Belgische landschap van improvisatie, experiment en jazz met elkaar te verbinden. Werkplaats Walter is ondersteunende partner.

Heidi Kvelvane - sax
Tollef Østvang - drums
Nils Vermeulen - bas

2023 resident Nils Vermeulen is back! The idea of forming this new trio with Heidi Kvelvane and Tollef Østvang arose from a series of coincidences, where everything fell into place naturally. It feels as though this trio was destined to form and collaborate, whether it happened sooner or later.
It all began in 2023 when double bass player Nils Vermeulen performed a solo concert in Trondheim as part of drummer Tollef Østvang's FRI FORM series. As discussions about collaborating became more concrete, Tollef mentioned that he was about to perform with saxophonist Heidi Kvelvane for the first time, sparking the idea of an intriguing new trio. Nils was immediately triggered by the idea, recalling Heidi's impressive performance at SummerBummer 2023 alongside Terrie Ex and Han Bennink.

The trio played their debut concert on Norwegian soil at Blow Out Festival in Oslo and in Belgium Summer Bummer Festival in Antwerp.