What can food tell us about the cities we live in, the communities we belong to, and the global systems that shape our everyday lives? These questions lie at the heart of The Belly of the City, an exhibition taking place across Brussels in October and November 2026, organised by Poland’s National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning (NIAiU) and curated by Aleksandra Wasilkowska of Shadow Architecture.
Moving beyond traditional exhibition spaces, the project unfolds throughout the city, bringing art into markets, Polish grocery stores, streets, community gardens and other places where food is produced, distributed, shared and consumed. Through the work of artists including Centrum Centrum, Karolina Jabłońska, Krzysztof Kaczmarek, Agnieszka Kurant, Dawid Misiorny, Janek Simon, Pola Sutryk, Slavs and Tatars, and others, the exhibition explores food as much more than a basic human need. It becomes a lens through which to examine cultural identity, migration, social inequality and the complex relationships between people and their environments.
With a particular focus on the Polish diaspora in Brussels, The Belly of the City investigates how culinary traditions travel across borders, adapt to new surroundings and contribute to the changing character of urban life. From the flavours and memories associated with familiar ingredients to the infrastructures that connect farms, markets, shops and households, the project reveals the often-invisible networks that sustain our cities.
At the same time, the exhibition raises urgent questions about the politics of food: who controls access to land and resources, who bears the environmental and social costs of food production, and how cities can work towards more equitable and sustainable food systems. By connecting everyday eating habits with broader issues such as migration, food waste, climate change and global inequality, the project invites visitors to reconsider the role food plays in shaping our collective future.
The exhibition is accompanied by New Foodscapes, an academic conference taking place on 30 October at the La Cambre-Horta Faculty of Architecture at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Bringing together researchers, architects, students and representatives of artistic and farming collectives, the conference will explore the relationships between food, landscape, architecture and urbanism. On 30–31 October, a programme of accompanying events will further expand these themes through exhibitions, performances, workshops and participatory activities across Brussels.
By bringing artistic practice into everyday urban spaces, The Belly of the City offers a fresh perspective on how food shapes not only our bodies and identities, but also the social, cultural and political landscapes we inhabit.
Contemporary Lynx is proud to be the media patron of The Belly of the City, supporting a project that brings together contemporary art, architecture and critical perspectives on the future of our cities.
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Exhibitions – The Belly of the City: A collective project by Centrum Centrum on the fence of a grassroots urban farm in Brussels. -
Exhibitions – The Belly of the City: A collective project by Centrum Centrum on the fence of a grassroots urban farm in Brussels. -
A collage by Dawid Misiorny entitled ‘Food Landscape’, created as part of the preparations for the exhibition ‘The Belly of the City’ -
A collage by Dawid Misiorny, created as part of the preparations for the ‘Brzuch Miasta’ exhibition -
A collage by Dawid Misiorny as part of the preparations for the ‘Brzuch Miasta’ exhibition.
