Under the banner 'mystery loves company', choreographer Meg Stuart and her company Damaged Goods inhabit S.M.A.K. for a residency from 21 September until 7 November 2026. Together with a diverse group of artists, filmmakers, choreographers and costume designers, Stuart cultivates a space for experimentation, gathering and reflection in close dialogue with the museum building.

Over the course of seven weeks, Room 1 at S.M.A.K. will be transformed into a collective laboratory. By moving the studio into the public eye, Ricochet Days becomes a living, embodied archive, continually refracting and reactivating Meg Stuart’s ongoing choreographic research. Exhibition spaces open up to movement improvisation, while the museum archive turns into a film set where bodies are tended with the same care as artworks.

Cyclical movements form the starting point for the experiments: gestures of assembling and dismantling, rotation and torque, rebounding and return. Bodies and structures move within a shapeshifting environment. Research unfolds through hybrid practices, ongoing performances and open work sessions. With fictional twists, special effects, and sensorial trajectories, the artists alter the museum's choreography, subtly shifting how visitors navigate the building and relate to the artworks. The residency’s energy ricochets beyond the institution: live video transmissions and workshops in the park blur the threshold between inside and outside. The museum's transport truck becomes a vehicle for impromptu performances across Ghent.

Ricochet Days is an invitation to witness these artistic processes as they evolve, to step beyond spectatorship, to watch, listen, linger, and converse – in short, to be in company with the artists.

WEEKLY CYCLE

Every Thursday morning – 10:00-11:30 – Open class: A weekly practice session led by one of the participating artists. Whenever weather permits, classes take place in the Citadelpark. Open to all, regardless of experience or background.

Every Thursday afternoon – Guest artist presentation: Each week, a guest artist joins the team of Ricochet Days . On Thursday, the week's guest artist hosts a public encounter.

Every Wednesday afternoon – Mobile performance with the S.M.A.K. truck: Using the museum's truck as a mobile stage and meeting place, the artists bring Ricochet Days into the city.

Every Saturday afternoon – Saturday showing: A public durational practice bringing together the artistic research, encounters and experiments developed throughout the week.

Guest artists

Week 1 · 22.09–26.09 — Gosie Vervloessem
Week 2 · 29.09–03.10 — Philipp Gehmacher
Week 3 · 06.10–10.10 — Sina Seifee & Misha Downey
Week 4 · 13.10–17.10 — Lucile Desamory
Week 5 · 20.10–24.10 — Peaches
Week 6 · 27.10–31.10 — Contagious (Andrea Neumann, Sabine Ercklentz, Mieko Suzuki)

More details available soon via www.smak.be.

Meg Stuart & Damaged Goods are supported by the Flemish Authorities and the Flemish Community Commission / Website by Fuut © Damaged Goods Privacy