10th Biennial of Painting

This summer, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Roger Raveel Museum and mudel will mark a special milestone: the tenth edition of the Biennial of Painting.

From 28 June to 18 October 2026, the three museums once again join forces for an anniversary edition in which each museum develops its own unique exhibition around a shared research question: how can the definition of painting be expanded? The exhibition brings together new creations, in situ installations and existing works from public and private collections in varying constellations.

The 10th edition of the Biennial of Painting at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, curated by Anne Pontegnie, explores how and why artists expand what painting can be. Textile, ceramic, glass, wax, plastic, beads and stone are among the materials artists use to escape the modern pictorial space and its correlated notions of autonomy and separation. Every artist in the exhibition speaks a different visual language, yet each tells a story of belonging: to a territory, a culture, a heritage, a family or a community.

These questions have long been present in the Leie River region, where artists have drawn on international styles to speak about regional realities. The exhibition is conceived as a celebration of a global conversation between artistic languages that deepen, rather than erase, their differences and origins.