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With The Society of Lost Things , the Reiefestival once again presents a production developed specifically for this edition. In doing so, we continue to build upon an artistic practice that Brugge Plus has deliberately cultivated in recent years: inviting artists to create new work based on a specific location, a specific context, and a specific audience.

Because places are never just a backdrop. They carry stories, memories, and contrasts. They shape how we move, how we view one another, and how we experience our surroundings. When artists draw inspiration from such a place, new perspectives emerge on what we think we know.

Today, that approach runs like a common thread through various initiatives by Brugge Plus. As part of the Reiefestival, this takes place in the historic city center of Bruges. Through “Uitwijken,” Brugge Plus’s mobile cultural center, this takes place in the outlying communities, where artists draw inspiration from the unique character of neighborhoods, villages, and their residents.

At first glance, these worlds seem worlds apart. Bruges’s city center enjoys international renown as a World Heritage Site, while the outlying districts are characterized by their everyday life and strong local roots. Yet they share something fundamental: they are living places. Places where people live, work, move about, create memories, and dream of the future. That is precisely why they provide fertile ground for artists.

Bruges is often viewed through the lens of its past. The city boasts a rich history, evident in its buildings, streets, and waterways. But behind those historic facades lies a contemporary city that is constantly evolving. A city that welcomes visitors from all over the world, that responds to social changes, and that, just like any other city, asks questions about its future.

Writer Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer once stated that Europe wants to attract visitors who come for the past and wants to keep out those who are looking for the future. The Reiefestival is based precisely on the conviction that the two are inseparable. The past is not an endpoint, but a starting point. By immersing artists in the history of Bruges—its stories, legends, and hidden layers—new perspectives emerge that take on meaning in the present and invite us to look further ahead…

The Reiefestival is situated precisely at that intersection of the past, present, and future. Artists draw inspiration from the city’s history, but they don’t treat it as an endpoint. They compare, question, connect, and visualize. This gives rise to new stories that are sometimes moving, sometimes thought-provoking, and sometimes surprising.

Public space plays a central role in this. A location along the Reien, a hidden courtyard, or an unexpected spot in the city is not merely the backdrop for a performance. The surroundings become an active partner. The light, the water, the sounds of the city, passing residents or visitors, and even the weather are all part of the experience. This requires a great deal of openness from the creators, but it also fosters unique encounters between art and its surroundings.

For the audience, too, a different way of seeing emerges. A site-specific performance doesn’t begin when the show starts, but already on the way there—in the curiosity about an unfamiliar place, in the walk toward it, in the discovery of a part of the city that may have always been there but was never noticed before.

That shared experience brings theater back to its essence. There is no fully controlled environment, no enclosed “black box” where all conditions are fixed. What exists is the encounter between creators, audience, and place. Art does not exist alongside life, but right in the midst of it.

This is where the Reiefestival and Uitwijken intersect. Both are rooted in the belief that culture can bring people together around a place. That art doesn’t just belong in cultural buildings, but just as much on a waterfront, in a park, in a square, in a neighborhood, or in a village. Among residents and visitors. Between memories and new stories.

The Society of Lost Things aligns seamlessly with that vision. The performance invites us to look closely at what is in danger of being lost: small stories, forgotten objects, hidden traces, and unexpected connections. Like the Reiefestival itself, it demonstrates how artists can create new meanings rooted in a specific place. It shows how they can connect the past and the present and make room for imagination, wonder, and encounter.

In this way, together with artists, partners, and the public, we continue to build on a tradition of new creations that emerge from the city and its surroundings. Not to preserve the past under a glass dome, but to bring it into dialogue with the present and the future.

Alan Quireyns
Artistic Coordinator, Brugge Plus