Choosing a reference for 51N4E is not easy. Every day, people, insights and frames of reference intersect, and that is precisely the strength and beauty of what happens within 51N4E. But if we have to choose, then this: Streamside Day by Pierre Huyghe. It is a work from the early 2000s and, for us, something that resonates beautifully with what is happening in the Northern district of Brussels, where we are based.”

In Streamside Day, the artist invents a new ritual: a holiday for a neighbourhood that, at the outset, was nothing more than a real estate development. The celebration marks the neighbourhood’s first year: the residents have moved in, and it is a fledgling community. The celebration is based on the themes of ‘environment’ and ‘migration’, and the ritual takes full advantage of its freedom to bring the frames of reference into a new context. From Bambi to moving boxes. The first celebration is filmed, thus forming the basis for an annual event.