6 Design Highlights From Collectible Brussels 2024

When Collectible co-founders Liv Vaisberg and Clélie Debehault sat down for coffee upon their mutual friends’ suggestion, little did they know they would establish a massive design fair that just turned seven. Collectible Brussels 2024, which recently wrapped at the Vanderborght Building (March 7 – 10) alongside TEFAF, an art, design, and antique fair held in the neighboring Dutch city of Maastricht, carries a strict commitment to cutting-edge contemporary design.

The fair also plays to an established collector base in Brussels, helping the founders strengthen their roots in the city. “The collector profile in the French part of Belgium is lenient towards decorative arts with a classical idea of craftsmanship,” Vaisberg explains. “The Flemish southern part, however, has a larger tendency for the contemporary.” Even with a dedication to focus on the very moment, the founders opened what Vaisberg calls “a tiny door to the 1980s and the ‘90s” with the Dialogue section, which carves room for contemporary designers building parallels with decades past. Experimental outdoor furnishings and objects also are on full display this year.

“We are interested in stimulating the market from day one,” Vaisberg adds. This can be clearly seen with Collectible’s grand unveiling of a brick-and-mortar space in the posh Rue Saint-Georges district where the one-of-a-kind platform aims to remain in touch with the community through consulting, dinners, and programming under its Club Collectible initiative. The fair also announced plans to expand overseas, with a New York outpost slated to debut in September at Water Street Projects during the Armory Show.

From whimsical outdoor pieces to chromatic bronze furniture made of tiny finger-like bits, explore must-see highlights from Collectible Brussels 2024 (and check out last year‘s coverage of the event as well).

VISIONARY DESIGNS FROM COLLECTIBLE BRUSSELS 2024

Bas Smets Brings The Outdoors In At Collectible Brussels 2024

While the unpredictable Brussels weather in March makes an outdoor installation challenging, the fair building’s fifth floor was flooded with light thanks to a nature-filled section curated by Brussels-based landscape architect Bas Smets. The new exhibition area featured a juxtaposition of light through colorful films Smets placed over the towering windows. “My husband and I were on a search for furniture for outdoors and I realized I couldn’t find anything from a designer that I am familiar with,” says Vaisberg. As a solution, the curator organized an open call and selected 12 designers, largely those exhibiting in the overall fair as well as a few who were invited to join by Smets. The mini exhibition offered a romantic, light-washed homage to a garden—albeit indoors, yet not comprising the joy and color.

Frederik Molenschot Surprises With Chromatic Furniture

Represented by international powerhouse Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Dutch designer Frederik Molenschot participated in Collectible Brussels 2024 with a massive sculpture in the atrium. “We wanted to let Frederik create a work that he normally would not for his gallery’s booth,” tells Vaisberg. Molenschot activated the chromatic bronze furniture, which is made out of softly-shaped finger-like bits, during the fair’s preview on March 6 with a performance in which he donned a hazmat suit.

Max Radford Gallery Invests In The Design Of The Moment

In line with the fair’s mission to invest in the design of the moment, displaying works that intrigue young collectors and designers alike was a principal goal. “We have many collectors in their 30s who started with vintage and have slowly veered towards contemporary,” Vaisberg says. On the flip side, she also believes in providing a platform for emerging young exhibitors, noting Instagram is often an ideal space to spot talent. For example, London-based dealer and designer Max Radford caught the fair cofounder’s attention while she was scrolling through her feed. For his sophomore year at the fair, he presented a booth with 16 London-based designers and artists—11 of whom made their fair debut—such as Ty Locke, Fred Thomson, and Lewis Kemmenoe.

Kim Mupangilaï Charms Visitors With Her Hefty Furniture

Architects were welcome, in a designated section, to flex their design muscles too. Here, standouts included New York-based Belgian Congolese architect and industrial designer Kim Mupangilaï, whose work Vaisberg encountered at the New York design gallery Superhouse last summer. Mupangilaï’s playful yet hefty wooden chairs with dramatic forms were an immediate attraction. “Kim’s furniture was inspirational for me and I hope she can inspire other architects to explore this path,” says Vaisberg who brought together 17 architects in total in the micro-exhibit, including Bastiaan Egbert Kalmeyer who designed the scenography for the section as well as a table and chairs for his wife who works as a chef.

Guild of Saint Luke Gallery Embraces The Punk Industrial Aesthetic

The fair also spotlighted interior designer-turned-design dealers. “We realized there is an appetite for this overlap,” Vaisberg adds, pointing at Guild of Saint Luke Gallery founder John Whelan. An interior designer by training, the British dealer opened his Paris venture with an inspiration from the Guild of Saint Luke, a 14th-century organization of artists, seeking musings from the traditional to translate into the aesthetic of the very moment. The gallery’s fair debut included furniture by Olivia Bossy, EJR Barnes, and Julian Harold.

Objects With Narratives Mixes Playfulness With Modern Flair

The Bruges-based gallery Objects With Narratives (OWN) also took the fair moment to celebrate the launch of their new 2000-square-meter Brussels space, named The Grand Sablon 40. Similar to Collectible Brussels 2024’s goal to activate their permanent storefront with year-long programming, the gallery plans to pull the community to their new location beyond a typical exhibition calendar. At the fair, they echoed the communal sentiment with a playful display of furniture and objects spread across their 100-square-meter booth. Under the theme of asking if there is room for games, they brought together cues from various community space structures, such as office spaces, bars, and game rooms.