What to do in Brussels: our cultural selection of the week

Jirō Taniguchi never really chose between manga and European comics. He preferred to chart his own course. The proof is in the pictures, with the return of the superb, César-winning The Summit of the Gods to the Galeries cinema – an animated counterpart to the exhibition Jirō Taniguchi: Portrait lointain, which is on display this winter at the Folon Foundation. Sketches, storyboards and original panels retrace the career of this mangaka, from his early days in the 1970s, to intimate and poetic works such as A Distant Neighbourhood and The Walking Man. A master craftsman, skilled at creating a dialogue between East and West, everyday life and contemplation. He also restored silence, the passing of time and those little trifles – from which he knew how to create a whole world – to their rightful place.

17 October to 14 February 2027
€5 to €10

Brussels has its (mostly congested) main roads. And then there are all the other roads, that is to say, over 800 km of low-speed roads that wind their way through the neighbourhoods: narrow streets, underpasses, tunnels, alleyways, leafy footpaths and car-free routes. For its sixth edition, the Slow Ways Weekend invites you to explore the city in a different way, through walks, explorations, workshops and initiatives organised by associations, collectives and local residents. It’s a chance to take shortcuts you’d never normally take, to connect places you thought were far apart and, above all, to rediscover Brussels at a leisurely pace.

17 & 18 October
Free

Bozar is showcasing cinema in all its glory! Immersive Cinema continues its series dedicated to virtual reality films and installations that totally immerse viewers in their stories. The first major piece is House of Memory by Basil Al-Rawi. Drawing on photographs and testimonies from the Iraq Photo Archive, the artist recreates 1970s Iraq through the eyes of those who lived through it. Memory, exile, identity: it takes just ten minutes to transform the archives into a space to be explored. And this is only the beginning.

14 October to 22 November
€6