Département des Pièges (2026-2027)

Designed as a room for research, this exhibition presents over seventy enigmatic objects, paintings and artworks selected in response to the theme of the trap. The exhibition’s title pays tribute to the Département des Aigles (Department of Eagles), a fictional museum created in 1968 by the surrealist and conceptual artist Marcel Broodthaers. Inspired by Broodthaers, who searched for a variety of objects and images of the eagle, Clémentine Deliss visited numerous Brussels museums in search for traps. She asked the institutions to respond to the theme by looking for pieces in their reserves. Gathered in the Département des Pièges, these nets, snares, decoys and visual illusions are interspersed with artworks and prototypes by contemporary artists. Paintings and works in different media by local and international artists from the 17th to the 21st century line the wall. The Département des Pièges seeks to animate a transversal reading of collections and stimulate us as visitors to develop our own cross-connections and storylines. A communal table shaped like a human lung and designed by Nicolas Zanoni recalls philosopher George Bataille’s description of the museum as the lung of a great city that refreshes visitors as they flow through its rooms.

© Clémentine Deliss