Who’s shaping you? Sous Influence takes over a Brussels townhouse

Your family, your feed, your beliefs: how much of who you are did you actually choose? From 6 November to 13 December 2026, VITRINE brings ten emerging artists into a 1,000 m² townhouse on Avenue Louise for Sous Influence. Through painting, photography, textiles, sculpture and installation, the exhibition explores the forces that shape identity, often without announcing themselves. For queer audiences, its central question has particular resonance: where do other people’s expectations end, and your own possibilities begin?

You are not making yourself alone

We like the idea of being the authors of our own lives. Sous Influence starts by complicating that story.

Images, religious beliefs, family histories, cultural inheritances, technologies and social structures all enter the picture. Some influences are easy to recognise. Others become so familiar that they feel less like outside forces than part of who we are.

The exhibition brings these questions into a domestic setting, moving through the different spaces of a Brussels townhouse. That context gives the premise an interesting echo: a house is a place where identities can be nurtured, negotiated and sometimes tightly prescribed.

Rather than offering one explanation of how people become themselves, the show brings together ten artistic perspectives. Memory, migration, spirituality, material culture and relationships with the environment sit alongside questions of family and cultural identity.

Ten artists, no single identity story

The participating artists are Dóra Benyó, Sarah Caillard, Romane Iskaria, Fañch Le Bos, Lancelot Michel, Sofia Pashaei, Pedro Riofrío, Stefanie Salzmann, Denys Shantar and Barbora Žilinskaitė.

Their practices move between painting, photography, textiles, sculpture and installation, creating a route through the building rather than a presentation confined to one medium. Some are also producing works specifically for the exhibition.

That variety is worth holding onto. “Identity” can become a convenient umbrella that makes very different experiences sound interchangeable. Here, the curatorial premise leaves room for several sources of influence to coexist: a family relationship is not the same as a technological system, and migration does not produce one universal experience.

The announcement does not give a work-by-work account of each artist’s contribution. The invitation is therefore to discover how these questions take material form, rather than arrive with every piece already explained.

A queer question, without forcing a queer label

Sous Influence is not announced as an exclusively LGBTQIA+ exhibition, and its line-up should not be used to make assumptions about the artists’ identities.

Its central tension nevertheless offers a strong queer point of entry. The distance between who you are, who others expect you to be and who you choose to become is familiar territory for many LGBTQIA+ people — though not something we all experience in the same way.

The useful word is agency: the room we have to make choices within circumstances we did not choose.

For LGBTQIA+ people today, this matters because self-definition involves more than visibility; it also means recognising the family, cultural and social expectations that can limit which lives feel possible.

That is an editorial reading of the exhibition’s premise, not a claim that every work carries the same message. A visit may offer recognition, disagreement or a question you had not thought to ask.

A townhouse becomes a temporary art space

Founded and directed by Alice de Kerchove, VITRINE describes itself as an immersive, itinerant contemporary art platform. Its stated ambition is to bring emerging artists and audiences together outside conventional exhibition formats, presenting work as something to experience rather than simply admire.

For Sous Influence, that means a temporary home at 126 Avenue Louise. The 1,000 m² setting gives the exhibition room to unfold through a sequence of spaces, with the building becoming part of how visitors encounter the work.

The project follows Paradoxes of Abundance: Between Treasures and Ruins, presented in Brussels in March 2026. VITRINE’s website documents that first exhibition, held on Rue des Drapiers.

The change of address is part of the model: each exhibition creates a new meeting between artworks, architecture and audience. It also means visitors should check the current venue carefully rather than return to the previous location.

More than one way into the exhibition

Throughout the run, VITRINE plans weekly encounters with artists, including talks, performances and private visits. These could provide a way to move beyond the exhibition’s broad theme and hear how individual artists approach it.

The supplied announcement does not yet detail the dates, languages, booking conditions or any additional charges for those activities. Nor does the word “immersive” establish specific sensory or access arrangements.

That distinction matters in a townhouse setting. Before visiting, anyone who needs step-free access, seating, accessible toilets or other support should ask for the practical details. A welcoming artistic ambition and an accessible visitor experience are related, but they are not the same thing.

Practical information

• Exhibition: Sous Influence, presented by VITRINE.
• Dates: 6 November–13 December 2026.
• Opening hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11am–6pm.
• Venue: Avenue Louise 126, 1050 Brussels.
• Artists: Dóra Benyó, Sarah Caillard, Romane Iskaria, Fañch Le Bos, Lancelot Michel, Sofia Pashaei, Pedro Riofrío, Stefanie Salzmann, Denys Shantar and Barbora Žilinskaitė.
• Tickets: Booking is announced, but prices are not included in the supplied information. Consult VITRINE for the current exhibition and ticket updates.
• Additional programme: Weekly artist encounters, talks, performances and private visits are planned; check individual dates and conditions.
• Accessibility: Step-free access, lifts, accessible toilets and sensory provisions are not detailed in the announcement. Confirm requirements before booking or travelling.

A house full of other people’s perspectives might be a good place to question your own. Sous Influence leaves space between what shaped you and what you might still choose to become.

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