Our project

The Les Halles project focuses on three main objectives:
- To provide the best possible support for artists and offer a diverse and curious artistic programme
- To be active in Schaerbeek and the Brussels-Capital Region and with the communities in the Les Halles district
- Remain attentive to today's major social issues (climate, migration, gender, social justice, among others).

To succeed in developing these three missions in a coherent way, Les Halles is organising its programming in an innovative way, in three distinct programming blocks to be both artistically coherent, active with the communities of the Les Halles district and open to the changes in the world we live in today.

Programming times :
- Season opening in September, with an introductory programme to the season, including the Marché de la Poésie - Poetik Bazar, an artistic creation, a festive event, among others.
- From October to February the focus is primarily artistic, with major works, new productions and events, mainly in the performing arts disciplines
- From February to May, the emphasis is on musical programming, but this is also the time when we keep part of our programme open, to be more responsive to the world in which we are evolving.
- At the end of the season, Le Grand Marché moves in, a project for an XXL neighbourhood.

We are choosing to look in the rear-view mirror at Les Halles' past. Les Halles de Schaerbeek was built around a vision of cultural democracy. This has helped to create the identity of Les Halles for over 50 years. By cultural democracy we mean valuing all cultures, in all their diversity. Cultural democracy rejects the superiority of one form of culture over another, since all have value. In this sense, the notion of culture covers artistic creation as well as traditions and customs, popular creativity and local practices.

We are convinced that Les Halles de Schaerbeek has the potential to be both open to diverse local communities and an artistically demanding international arts centre. In this sense, and given its history, it is a unique house in the local, national and international landscape.

As of today, we are making three major commitments:
- To make Les Halles an even more interdisciplinary venue. We're introducing three main disciplines: dance/performance, circus and music. At the same time, we're open to disciplines that still have too little place in cultural institutions, such as stand-up and cabaret. Les Halles specialises in producing interdisciplinary works.
- Developing a shared programme with a large number of partners, from the Théâtre National de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles to the Théâtre de la Vie, from the Botanique to the Centre Culturel de Schaerbeek, from the Kaaitheater to the 140.
- Making the venues more accessible: to artists and spectators with different physical and mental abilities, to culturally diverse communities of participantsx from the neighbourhood and beyond, to arts scenes from all over, particularly from Flanders. We're putting in place a series of initiatives (Ramadan Friendly, Pay What You Can, in particular) to help achieve this.