Elias Cafmeyer

For the central courtyard of Sint Lucas Antwerpen I created a clock. Twelve traffic arrows are pointing towards the hour on an imaginary timepiece. At noon all lights are out and at midnight all arrows are lit. Every 5 minutes a new lamp starts blinking, thus slowly loading the arrow until all are lit. Come discover the clock tomorrow during the last day of Antwerp Art Weekend @antwerpart and figure out how to read directional time. Many thanks for the support and creating the possibility of making this clock work like clockwork (moehaha): @smolders_sarah , @lienhuwels , @sintlucasantwerpen , @h.wuyts , @tomvolkaert , @falco._.w amongst many other helpful advisors. Photo 1: 20h05 Video 2: 15h35 Photo 3: 22h00 (image @h.wuyts ) Video 4: 19h25 Photo 5: 23h00 (image @falco._.w )

Over the past months I have been treating myself to some crash courses in programming and levelled up my skills in electricity wiring: no less than 6144 LED’s will soon illuminate the inner courtyard of Sint Lucas Antwerpen! Please feel welcome to light up (or set fire to… 🙃) Sint Lucas’ communal garden during Antwerp Art Weekend. 🚧🚧🚧 Installation Elias Cafmeyer: Blinking the Day Away 14 May—17 May 2026 In collaboration with Project Workshop Studio Fine Art of Sint Lucas Antwerpen, Elias Cafmeyer realizes a permanent intervention in the central courtyard of the school building. The installation draws on traffic signage elements and reconfigures them into a clock. Through light and repetition, the garden of Sint Lucas Antwerpen becomes a meeting place. Here, time is not only measured but also inhabited: blinking, repeating itself, and unfolding as a gentle choreography of the daily rhythm.

For Centrale | vitrine, Elias Cafmeyer delves into the history of the urban development of the Sainte-Catherine area and its church. The current Sainte-Catherine church is a second version built between 1854 and 1874 on the site of a basin in the former port of Brussels. The original church was part of the façade of the rue Sainte-Catherine, where the Centrale is located today. Due to flooding from the Senne during the middle of the 19th century, the entire odd-numbered side of rue Sainte-Catherine, including the church, became unfit for habitation and was demolished. In 1892, the City of Brussels built its first power station on this site to supply the rapidly expanding public lighting system. Elias Cafmeyer reintroduces a fragment of the old church into the building that replaced it. Trapped inside Centrale | vitrine, the old façade re-emerges and accentuates the presence of the street’s hybrid and eclectic architecture. By reproducing a historical element slightly inaccurately, Cafmeyer temporarily adds another historical artefact to the district. He creates a new tourist attraction alongside the Tour Noire and La Bellone. With this gesture Cafmeyer addresses the Disneyfication of the Sainte-Catherine area, a process that is transforming urban planning and local culture to meet the expectations of tourism. Many thanks to the professional and caring team of la @centralebrussels , the very generous studio help: @manon._jacobs , @falco._.w , @duiz_warrior_2018_ , @satin_caroline and @finres.sa for the help in materials and productional tips, Archives of the city of Brussels, Bruxelles Port de Mer asbl, and the backstage support by the sweetest @thomaswillemen

Het kunstenfestival Roeselare wordt opgebouwd. Werken ontvouwen zich langzaam in de ruimte: ‘Anemochorie’ in de expocontainer in Sask Roeselare. Elias Cafmeyer — Kunstenfestival Roeselare Meer info: Kunstenfestivalroeselare.be Fotograaf @lucdewaelefotograaf @sask_roeselare @eliascafmeyer @visitroeselare @terposterie_visualarts @despil_cultuurcentrum

Finissage this Sunday 7/12 at 11 am: protest against the closure of @centralebrussels The last weekend of my presentation “Les gargouilles de Catherine” at vitrine | CENTRALE was overshadowed by the announcement that Centrale of contemporary art is about to close, following the fashionable trend of suddenly closing and destructively restructuring cultural institutions… (@museumatrisk_mhka ) Unfortunately, my installation is narrating a similar sad story by depicting the typical Brussels’ phenomenon of the continuous disappearance of cultural heritage. Where once the medieval church of Saint Catherine disappeared, today the legacy of an important art institution is vanishing too. The dismantling of Centrale isn’t only problematic on the level of the museum and its (ambitious, passionate, caring and professional) family of employees, it also means the destruction of a microcosmos surrounding the museum. Centrale is a rare mayor institution where young and/or local artists have the opportunity to show work, opposed to the saturated money-driven and/or international art market. Dismantling 20 years of centrale is leaving a void that cannot be filled, it’s a rarity in the artistic fibre of our capital. But just like that, whilst empty, non-durable (!) and disruptive tourism is filling the Saint Catherine square for “winter wonders”, with a snap of the finger this microcosmos is destroyed. Talking about the Disneyfication of European cities… Come and protest, it’s once more a severe attack on the Belgian cultural field with lasting effects on the entire sector. 1. Les gargouilles de Catherine, (c) Phillipe De Gobert 2. (c) Elias Cafmeyer 3. @sebastienricou 4. Screenshot IG story @centralebrussels 5. @bruzzbe 6, 7. @lafap.be & @asap.asbl 8. Protest on Friday @philippe_close , @artists_nicc , @brusselsculture , @museumatrisk_mhka

Only two more weekends left to visit! Les gargouilles de Catherine is a reaction on the trending "Facadism" in Brussels. After the loss of many of the city's heritage during the 20th century, Brussels is currently adding a new shape to its infamous "Brusselization" (= "haphazard" urban development with disrespect for heritage). The installation evokes the idea that the original medieval Saint Catherine church never disappeared but was "saved" by the current wave of facadism. 📸 1. Les gargouilles de Catherine, @centralebrussels © Philippe de Gobert 2. Les gargouilles de Catherine, @centralebrussels 3. Marché aux Poulets, Brussels 4. - 5. Place de Brouckère, Brussels 6. Rue Royal, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, © Hafida Maghouti 7. Invitation image for Les gargouilles de Catherine Les gargouilles de Catherine centrale l VITRINE Katelijnestraat 13 Rue Sainte Catherine 1000 Brussel - Bruxelles

Les gargouilles de Catherine Vitrine @centralebrussels - Rue Sainte-Catherine 13 Continuously visible (better after dark!) Until approx. 1850 the original Saint Catherine church (13th century) used to be further down the Rue Sainte-Catherine. After several floods the church and surrounding buildings became unstable and the area had to be cleared. The new (current) church was constructed on top of the former harbour and the location of the original church was the perfect foundation to build the first power station of Brussels. After a lot of function changes this building finally became the Centrale for contemporary art in 2006. With my installation I’m bringing back a fragment of the original medieval Saint Catherine church to its original location within the buildings of @centralebrussels . 📸 1. Detail of “Les gargouilles de Catherine”, Elias Cafmeyer 2. Old Saint Catherine dock in Brussels, Henri Lallemend, 1839 3. Demolition of the former Saint Catherine church (New Saint Catherine church in the background), approx. 1890, image from the Archives of the City of Brussels 4. Invitation image of “Les gargouilles de Catherine”, Elias Cafmeyer

[Les gargouilles de Catherine] "With "Les gargouilles de Catherine" I try to make a link between the religious, ecclesiastical, but also with the Disneyfication that we are currently seeing in Brussels." - Elias Cafmeyer Installation @eliascafmeyer - Les gargouilles de Catherine 🗓 > 07.12.2025 📍 Centrale | vitrine Rue Sainte-Catherine 13 👉 More info 🔝 link in bio

Waas-eind, 2025 Two interventions for the group show “Beeldig Hof Ter Saksen” curated by @jonasvansteenkiste with works of @andre_pielage , @joke__raes , @wesleymeuris , @jonasvansteenkiste , Veerle Michiels, Jakub Geltner and me. 25/05 - 12/10 (two more weekends to visit!!) Park Hof ter Saksen Hof ter Saksendreef 2 Gemeente Beveren-Kruibeke-Zwijndrecht The fusion of the municipalities Beveren, Kruibeke and Zwijndrecht became notorious in Flanders due to the long search for a new name (which to this date still isn’t found). The intervention represents the disappearing road signs with the “old names” of the 13 municipalities and sub-municipalities. Simultaneously a (fictitious) new name and city-marketing was created, calling the newly fusioned municipalities “Westwerpen”, after its neighbouring city Antwerpen. T-shirts still available => DM :)

I N V I T A T I O N | Les gargouilles de Catherine Vernissage 29/10 from 17h Open 30/10 - 7/12 Sint-Katelijnestraat 13 | Rue Sainte-Catherine 13 1000 Brussel | Bruxelles I’m creating a new installation for the vitrine of @centralebrussels in Brussels! I’m reinterpreting the history of the neighbourhood whilst commenting contemporary currents of urban development. And yes, there will be dragons! :) Hope to see you there! !!! The opening was originally planned for 7/10, but had to be delayed due to unfinished works on the space.

PARKING CATHÉDRALE Elias Cafmeyer - @eliascafmeyer 📍31A, rue de la Cathédrale Le parcours #16 est encore visible jusqu’au 30 avril : rendez-vous sur www.artaucentre.be pour planifier votre itinéraire dans les ruelles du centre de Liège 🖤 ______ /EN/ Route #16 is still on show until 30 April: visit www.artaucentre.be to plan your route through the narrow streets of central Liège 🖤 📷 #2 : Jente Waerzeggers

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