Art on the Meuse: a travelogue

From 16 July to 25 October in Z33

30/06/2026

Kunstenhuis Z33 presents Art on the Meuse: a travelogue, an exhibition that brings together the entire journey of Art on the Meuse. After five years, the large-scale art project in the Meuse Valley River Park has been completed. Now that the final artwork has been realised, it is possible for the first time to experience the project as a whole. The exhibition takes visitors on a journey along the entire route: from the initial ideas and temporary artworks to the permanent artworks that can now be seen in the landscape.

For Art on the Meuse: a travelogue, artist Olivier Goethals – who also created the first temporary artwork for Art on the Meuse in 2021 – designed a unique scenography. Visitors walk, as it were, through the Meuse Valley and discover the stories behind the artworks along the way. The temporary artworks, which have since disappeared from the landscape, are also given a place in the exhibition once again through images, models, sketches and documentation.

Art on the Meuse was launched in 2021 as a collaboration between Z33 and Regionaal Landschap Kempen en Maasland (RLKM). The Meuse Valley is a landscape that is constantly changing due to gravel extraction, nature conservation, climate adaptation and the capricious nature of the river itself. Drawing on this constant flux, the project invited artists and residents to imbue the Meuse landscape with new meanings.

“The risk with a work of art in public space is that it will be ignored, that it will gradually lose its meaning and ultimately be left to wither away,” explains curator Tim Roerig of Z33. “That is why the artworks in this project fulfil two criteria: on the one hand, they are monumental and have an international reach; on the other, they hold significance for both the landscape and the local population.”

International and Belgian artists drew inspiration from the stories of the river and its inhabitants. Thanks to close collaboration with local communities, artists such as Mark Dion, Germaine Kruip, Laure Prouvost, Jennifer Tee, Adrien Tirtiaux and Koen Vanmechelen have created works that are rooted in their surroundings. From billboards to monumental sculptures: each work tells its own story about the relationship between people and the Meuse. Today, six permanent artworks can be visited in the Maas Valley River Park.

The Meuse forms the common thread running through the project. For centuries, the river served as both a boundary and a link between villages and communities. Today, it continues to shape and transform the landscape.A travelogue illustrates how Art on the Meuse brings this ongoing evolution to life and invites visitors to experience the Meuse Valley as a place full of stories, memories and visions of the future.

Art on the Meuse is an initiative of Z33 and Regionaal Landschap Kempen en Maasland (RLKM), in collaboration with the municipalities of Kinrooi, Maasmechelen and Lanaken, the towns of Maaseik and Dilsen-Stokkem, Tourism Flanders and De Vlaamse Waterweg.