Ist Doch Schön Hier investigates the relationship between sound, isolation, and connection, starting from the analogy between the listening practice of the field recordist and the hermit, approached via the concept [...]
Rif Festival 2026
26 SEPTEMBER 2026
14:00 – 22:30
RIF
Rif is turning 1 and that will be celebrated on Saturday 26 September! High-profile guests are on our guest list Tembo, the elephantAt 2pm we are meeting him opposite the circus school Art To Move, St Louis Church, Osylei 74 in Mortsel. Under the guidance of the circus students of Art To Move and the Rif Fanfare We then accompany Tembo to the Deurneleitje where it Rif Party Outburst!
Party planning:Â
14.00 - St. Ludger's Church, Osylei 74, Mortsel
departure of the procession Tembo the Elephant, Rif Fanfare & Art To Move circus school – St. Ludger's Church, Osylei 74, Mortsel
14.30 – Ref
arrival of the procession – Rif, Deurneleitje, Mortsel
14:30 – 18.00 – Rif – continuous
Lotte Boonstra’s living sculptures, Lucas & the prawns feat. Amanda Bavo, continuous bingo for young and old (led by Jacques Plouvier), Chakravan Soul-reading, the tap dance class, acrobatic manoeuvres Art To Move, nest box exhibition Mortsel Academy of Visual Arts!
→ Read more at the bottom ↓
16.00 – 18.00 – Rif – Tembo the Elephant – the performance
There is it was rumoured that there was a girl in Tembo‘…lives in his tummy and that a little light shines in his head at night… Don’t let anyone fool you – do come and visit for yourself. Just remember to wipe your feet! Tembo hosts short family shows brimming with stories and always with a touch of magic.
performances last 30 minutes, please arrive on time and book a time slot on-site at the ticket desk
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15:00 of 16:30 – Rif – ongoing chromatography workshopÂ
Breng een grondstaal mee uit je tuin of straat in een confituurpotje en ontdek wat er allemaal in verborgen zit. In deze hands-on workshop you make using circular chromatography Surprising, colourful images of your soil sample. A creative journey of discovery at the intersection of science, art and ecology.
workshop duurt 30 minuten, kies je tijdslot (max 15 deelnemers per slot) en bestel je ticket op de ticket page next to this.Â
6.00 pm – 8.00 pm – Rif – outdoor square – VolkskeukenÂ
Vegetarian buffet prepared by food collective The Stream.
Reserve your board via the ticket page Over here!
19.30 – Rif – buitenplein – speech van Rif huisgenoot Line Mertens
Line speecht over de verhalen waarmee we onze levens meten en betekenis geven. Over het vieren van een verjaardag en de ritmes van het jaar – Hoera!
8.00 pm – Rif – Theatre – Ben & Vero
Tijdens het Gala van de Aura’s, de Vlaamse podiumsector prijzen, wonnen Veronique Mees en Benjamin Vandewalle de Aura voor meest gewaardeerde samenspel voor hun voorstelling ‘Ben & Vero’
Twee verschillende lichamen vinden hier volgens de jury samen “een nieuwe bewegingstaal”. “Verschil wordt hier geen beperking, maar kracht. Ze hebben elkaar nodig om iets te maken wat geen van beiden alleen kan maken.”
At Ben & Vero bouwen muzikante Pak Yan Lau en dansers Benjamin Vandewalle & Véronique Mees een universum dat imponeert door zijn authenticiteit.
A disarming performance about two people with different bodies, about seeing and being seen.
Theatre dance at its very best! (Pzazz)
→ Read more at the bottom ↓
Buy your ticket via the ticket page Over here!
21.30 – Rif – outdoor square – SlumberlandÂ
With Slumberland features the Belgian musician and sound artist Jochem Baelus obscure, hypnotising krautrock and post-punk, coloured with distorted exotica. The tactile sound of Slumberland is created from a battery of sewing machines, film projectors and other dismantled, mechanical objects.
PRACTICAL
The places for the people's kitchen of The Stream (18:00) and the performance Ben & Vero from Benjamin Vandewalle and Véronique Mees (20u) are limited. Therefore, we ask you to book a ticket in advance for these activities via the ticket page next to it. Pay What You Want, ... convenient and you choose how rich you make the "Rif". All other activities during the "Rif" Festival are free to enter.
PARKING
Kom je met de auto? Er wordt parking voorzien op de site van Agfa Gevaert op de hoek van de Antwerpse Straat en de Lieven Gevaertstraat in Mortsel.
14:30 – 18.00 – Lotte Boonstra's living sculptures
‘Eight (or maybe nine) universal truths about human nature’ is a sculptural performance in which Lotte Boonstra investigates how humans and their materials together form a single mass. In a series of absurdist and poetic sculptures, she questions how man digs, excavates and builds — becoming ever more deeply entangled in his own human gear.
Her work invites us to look afresh at what seems self-evident: the concrete beneath our feet, the raw materials in our bodies, the care with which we build and break down. It shows the immense impact of humanity on the earth while simultaneously offering an intimate portrait of our human existence.
16.00 – 18.00 – Tembo the Elephant (family show)
Perhaps you already saw his little tail wagging among the bushes. And now he is visiting Mortsel! Tembo, the life-sized African bush elephant. Watch out! All sorts of peculiar things are happening around the beast. Did steam just come out of its rear? Were there really two slippers dangling from its belly? Is there a light burning in its head at night? Some whisper that a girl lives inside its belly. Others believe the animal is part of the Great Disappearing Act of a fallen magician. Don't let anyone pull the wool over your eyes, but above all, come and visit for yourself. And mind you wipe your feet! Tembo is a living statue, but also hosts short family shows full of stories, always with a pinch of magic.
8.00 pm – Theatre – Ben and Vero – Benjamin Vandewalle & Véronique Mees
What happens when two dancers from very different walks of life meet? Veronique has mastered dance at Platform K, a dance company for dancers with disabilities. Benjamin has disciplined his dancing body through years of ballet and contemporary training. They find each other in a dance where risk is not shied away from. They love to challenge each other, to push themselves physically, mentally and spiritually to the limits of what they believe they are capable of. In dialogue with live musician Pak Yan, they build a universe of sound, movement and text that impresses with its authenticity. Pak Yan intervenes in the encounter between Ben and Veronique from a self-built island of contact microphones, samplers and electronic instruments. The three of them search for a fusion of different styles and disciplines where it is no longer clear who supports, leads or inspires whom. Hierarchical structures based on physical abilities, gender and age are left far behind. The more the two dancers and the musician find their own creativity, the freer they feel in their encounter with themselves and with each other. Do they also free the contemporary dance performance from its conventions of formality and virtuosity? In any case, the result is a surprisingly intimate and interpersonal contact in dance and music that is occasionally stubbornly confrontational, but often also gentle, and always playful, light, multi-layered and fluid.
Door en met Veronique Mees and Benjamin Vandewalle Live music Pak Yan Lau Scenography Erki De Vries Lighting design Lucas Van Haesbroeck Technology Tijmen Vandamme, Janneke Donkersloot Costume 10.2 by J Boy Dramaturgy Robert Stijen, Mira Bryssinck Interviews and Sound Recording Eva De Groote/Audiomakerij Selkie Production Caravan Production Movement assistance Véronique Jessi Zhang, Magdalena Öttl In cooperation with Platform K Co-production KAAP, Viernulvier, SOaP, C-Takt, Perpodium With the support of The Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission and tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government by Cronos In
Credits
Working on the Rif Festival 2026
Amanda Bavo, Jacques Plouvier, Martine Debaeke, Lucas & The Prawns, Benjamin Vandewalle, Véronique Mees, Pak Yan Lau, Art To Move Circus School, Lotte Boonstra, Jochem Baelus, Academy for Visual Arts Mortsel, Line Mertens, Didier El Bacha & Judith Vindevogel, Red Tree & Tembo the elephant, City Kitchen De Beek
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