The first edition of the Ommegang exhibition "Behind the Scene" took place in the basement of the Halles Saint Géry in the summer of 2020 and then in the Palais du Coudenberg in 2021 for its second edition.

The Ommegang is a Brussels folk parade retracing the arrival of Charles V and his son Phillippe in 1549 in the Belgian capital. On the occasion of its classification as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in late 2019, UrbanBrussel, sponsor of the exhibition, wanted to reveal the backstage and restore the costumes of the 1930s (made at the time by the seamstresses of the Mint).

In its current version, the parade starts at the Place du Sablon around the church and then goes to the Grand-Place for the show. There are 1400 costumed extras, re-enacting the different strata of the city, the men-at-arms, the Dukes of Brabant, the representatives of the guilds, the leaders of the Nations, the representatives of the institutions of the city, the lineages of Brussels, the Oaths etc.
So many costumes in their current version, but also period costumes kept in the reserve of the Ommegang rue des Tanneurs. And many artefacts to decorate the procession.

The exhibition reveals a selection of the pieces of the procession and proposes to rediscover this heritage somewhat neglected by the inhabitants of Brussels.

The scenography wants to be elementary, almost brutal. Both to contrast with the frills, colours, materials, costumes and other artefacts, and both in a concern for speed (manufacturing, assembly), modularity and reuse. Because the exhibition is intended to be reassembled several times in different places and contexts.

Exhibition design : Ommegang "Behind the Scene
Sponsor : Urban Brussels
Curator : Urban Brussels / Lhoas & Lhoas
Graphic design : Oil In Water

More than 70 works have been put together for this exhibition on the theme: Nature Morte Nature Vivante with a wide variety of interpretations and media: objects, photos, videos, installations... The exhibited artists include FormaFantasma, Andrea Branzy, Marlène Huissoud, Alexi Williams Wynn and many others.

Our project is intended to be very neutral, simple and efficient at the same time; the priority was to highlight the works and the narrative sequence that the curators wished to set up. Our proposal, made of large cardboard walls, proposes a new circulation, a sequencing of the exhibition, a progressive discovery of all the works. It enriches the usual vision of the space of Le Magasin aux foins and simplifies the narration of the exhibition. Our aim was to maintain the scale and keep the envelope of the space of Le Magasin aux Foins visible everywhere, while defining autonomous spaces.

The large cardboard partitions accentuate the verticality of the place, while the low and exaggeratedly long pedestals invite to a horizontal reading of the works that are rather placed low.

Cardboard, a poor, affordable and light material, was chosen for the creation of the giant walls measuring 5m x 10,12,15m. The panels establish a fragile presence that is both imposing and invisible, they offer a form of simplicity in a place where materiality is extremely present.

The scenography also plays an essential role as an intermediary between the scale of the building (45m long, over 10m wide and high) and the scale of the object.

Exhibition : Nature Vivante Nature Morte
Curators : Veerle Wenes / Ralph Collier
Direction CID: Marie Pok / Françoise Foulon
Exhibition design : Lhoas & Lhoas architects

Scenography of the Mementos Exhibition, part of the 35th edition of the Art Brussels fair.

"As part of its landmark 35th edition, Art Brussels announces a collaboration with internationally renowned exhibition maker Jens Hoffmann and distinguished curator and critic Piper Marshall for the flagship artistic project situated within the fair. Called Mementos: Artists’ Souvenirs, Artefacts, and other Curiosities, the exhibition brings together personal objects and artefacts from the private collections of a diverse group of artists, all of whom are represented by galleries participating in Art Brussels 2017.

Installed within an intimate display designed by the Brussels-based architecture firm Lhoas Lhoas, the objects offer an alternative to the way we think about collecting, one which attaches high emotional or sentimental value to objects and is defined by individual histories and memories.

Displaying these items in the context of an art fair suggests a different economy to that of the investment in art objects, whilst also revealing the sentiments and attitudes of the participating artists in a personal and highly subjective way."

Pictures by Fabrice Schneider.

Accompanying the MAD and Brussels Invest & Export in the set-up of the economic mission "Brussels Days" in Tokyo, Lhoas & Lhoas had one month and half to imagine and produce the scenography that took place at the Belgian embassy. This work has been done in collaboration with the branding studio Base Design.

In line with the approach to present the Brussels Creativity through "The Art of Assemblage", the scenography aims to be an echo of decomposition and composition concepts, as part of the Brussels creative practice.

The archetypal elements of the workshop as a place for designers constitute the library of materials, shapes and objects from which we picked up the elements - as needed -, in order to set up the presentation, work and meeting spaces.

The heterogeneous and modular dimension of the proposal is open to the multiplicity of medias in presence (design, fashion, ...): large or small scale items, finished products and prototypes, images. The simplicity of prefabricated meets the need for a fast production and installation. The exhibition spaces offered to participants are also working and meeting spaces for B2B meetings.

Pictures by Lydie Nesvadba

After a public competition, Lhoas & Lhoas has been appointed to think and design the scenography of upcoming hostel Belvue, in the hearth of Brussels.
Signage in collaboration with Els Vandekerckhove from Something Els

Building development by l'Escaut