Trouble #1: European Performance Festival at Halles de Schaerbeek

The Halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels launched Trouble #1, a performance festival running from November 23 to December 4, 2005, as part of a European collaboration with New Moves International in Glasgow and Les Subsistances in Lyon. The initiative responded to a perceived 'renewal of performance' and a 'lack of space within the European Union' for this art form. The program included a performance-lecture by Joshua Sofaer, delivered by Véronique Danneels, which humorously deconstructed definitions of performance art. Minimalist works like Marie Cool and Fabio Balducci's 'Untitled – Prayers' contrasted with narrative performances such as Ricky Seabra and Andrea Jabor's 'Isadora.orb' and Kazuko Hohki's 'My Husband Is a Spaceman.' Seabra's piece recounted his 2002 thesis project at the Eindhoven design school for an artistic module on the International Space Station, which was never realized. Hohki's work transposed the Japanese folktale of the crane wife into a contemporary intercultural love story. Video installation was represented by Jacques André's 'Portraits épidermiques,' which filmed nude bodies by candlelight without showing faces. The festival aimed to provide an institutional framework for unconventional productions. Future editions were scheduled for February 2006 in Glasgow, April 2006 again at Halles de Schaerbeek, and May-June 2006 in Lyon.