Posted in

ANTWERP PRIDE | Yves de Brabander and Cedric Jacquemyn present ‘Absence, Returned’ from 6 August to 11 September 2026

by Timothy••3

2026 marks the nineteenth (19th) edition of Antwerp Pride. From Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 August, Antwerp in Belgium will once again be taken over by rainbow vibes. Prides are a mix of celebration – parties – and activism and advocacy. For the 2026 edition, the organising committee focuses on fearing less and being fearless.

A new exhibition bringing together the work of two Antwerp-based artists will open during Antwerp Pride, exploring themes of absence, memory and identity through fashion, photography and installation art.

‘Absence, Returned‘ by Yves de Brabander and Cedric Jacquemyn opens at C A S S T L on Thursday 6 August with a public opening from 18:00 to 22:00. The exhibition will remain on view until 11 September, open Wednesday to Friday from 12:00 to 17:00.

Two artistic practices in dialogue

Although presented together, ‘Absence, Returned’ is not a traditional artistic collaboration. Instead, it brings together two distinct practices shaped by years of living and working alongside one another. According to the organisers, the exhibition reflects an ongoing dialogue between the artists, with shared interests in material, transformation, presence and disappearance.

The exhibition examines what remains after something has vanished, whether a body, an artwork or a memory. Through garments, photographs and fragmented images, it explores how absence can continue to shape the present.

Garments and lost artworks

Jacquemyn presents ‘E/Motion of a Garment‘, a series in which clothing becomes a lasting presence after the wearer has disappeared. Coats, jackets, canvases and textile constructions suggest bodies that have left, while continuing to respond to movement, gravity, weather and time.

De Brabander contributes the new installation ‘Ancestral Inferno‘, inspired by inventories of looted and missing cultural heritage. Conceived as a fictional lost altarpiece divided into separate panels, the work examines how images survive, disappear and are transformed through loss and displacement. Rather than reconstructing what has been lost, the installation presents fragments of an artwork that never existed, raising questions about memory, history and cultural inheritance.

Together, the exhibition presents garments and images as vessels of memory, suggesting that what disappears continues to influence what remains.

Identity through absence

Within the context of Antwerp Pride, the exhibition also explores queer identity. Rather than presenting identity as fixed or complete, ‘Absence, Returned’ approaches it as something shaped by proximity, loss, desire, devotion and return.

Cedric Jacquemyn is an Antwerp-based fashion designer who founded his label in 2011 after graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. His work combines tailoring, material research and visual storytelling, focusing on craftsmanship, natural materials and themes including fragility, protection and the human condition.

Yves de Brabander is an Antwerp-based visual artist and photographer whose work explores identity, vulnerability, absence and queer experience through photography, collage and installation. His practice frequently combines classical references with contemporary questions surrounding memory, censorship and the body.

Part of city-wide Pride art initiative

The exhibition forms part of TOGETHER, a city-wide initiative supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Antwerp Pride. Initiated by Carla Arocha and developed in collaboration with Stéphane Schraenen, Vanessa Van Obberghen, Jesse Siegel, Tom Sanders, Philip Huyghe, Lieven Segers, Luc Tuymans, and Clara Lissens, the project brings together a network of Antwerp galleries and art spaces.

Participating venues include AAIMACHINE, Annie Gentils Gallery, BURO_ASAP, C A S S T L, Kunsthal Extra City, Pizza Gallery, Melis & Piron, Studio Palermo, and TICK TACK.

C A S S T L, founded in 2017 by Carla Arocha, Stéphane Schraenen and Luc Tuymans, is a non-profit artist initiative that organises exhibitions, performances, readings, screenings and publications by Belgian and international artists outside the traditional institutional and commercial gallery model. The exhibition takes place at C A S S T L, Braziliëstraat 27 in Antwerp.

Antwerp Pride 2026-2027

Antwerp Queer Arts Festival 2026

Reclaim Our Pride 2026

Beyond Darklands 2027

The latest on LGBTQIA+ events such as prides in Belgium

🇧🇪 Blogger, keen vexillologist, train conductor NMBS/SNCB, traveller, F1 follower, friend of Dorothy.

Leave a Reply

To respond on your own website, enter the URL of your response which should contain a link to this post's permalink URL. Your response will then appear (possibly after moderation) on this page. Want to update or remove your response? Update or delete your post and re-enter your post's URL again. (Find out more about Webmentions.)

Discover more from Sidetrack

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading