Spa for Spirits
—interactive performances & installations, collaborative platform
Since 2021, performers Leonie Buysse and Lili Sels VanBavaerts have led Spa for Spirits—a wellness center inhabited by otherworldly creatures.Together with artists and experts from various artistic and life domains they create participatory installations and performances, in which individual art practices interweave through collective play, exploration, and wonder.
Participants are invited to step beyond the ordinary and embrace new ways of seeing, thinking, and being by rediscovering everyday activities, loosening them from their monotonous rusty patterns and reconnecting them with diverse crafts and techniques. The peculiar rituals that emerge from this process aim to ground participants in their bodies, reawaken the senses, and foster a more conscious engagement with their surroundings.
By occupying diverse public and semi-public spaces, we disrupt and queer them from their usual identity and function. We reimagine them through artistic and sensory exploration, this transformative process invites an unexpected mix of participants—local residents, passersby, and communities—to engage in new and surprising ways. Through these explorations the otherworldly hosts of Spa for Spirits strive to reconnect humanity with its fundamental needs.
collaborations with experts and artists:
Henny Baeken (body-oriented therapist)
Renske Maria Van Dam (architect)
Francesco Apostoli (architect)
Vincent Vergote (architect)
Nora Vanderstraeten (graphic designer and photographer)
Alice Dooreman (photographer)
House of Lux - Theo Bonne & Daan Dekeyser (performers, make-up and look)
Oscar Pichard (sound artist)
Sybren Janssens (visual artist)
Wim Pelgrims (sound artist)
Anton Cla (animation & video artist)
Aidan Abnet (fashion designer)
Noam Youngrak Son (graphic designer)
Luna De Mey (performer & cook)
Jonas Baeke (dramaturg)
partnerships:
De Grote Post (Ostend)
BUDA (Courtrai)
VIERNULVIER (Ghent)
De Koer (Ghent)
Pleasure Island (Ostend)
School Van Gaasbeek (Brussels)
Broei (Ghent)
radical_house (Brussels)
Fomu (Antwerp)
Dr. Guislain Museum (Ghent)
Nadine (Brussels)
A Two Dogs Company (Brussels)
Recyclart (Brussels)
supported by:
Stad Gent
AllesKan
the Flemish Community Commission (VGC)
Flanders State of the Arts,
2021 — performance at VIERNULVIER invited by Nachtzwemmen - Lieselot Siddiki , Ghent (BE)
2021 — atelier / collective action during Celestial Bodies Festival at Centro De Experimentação Artística, Moita (PT)
2021 — performance at VIERNULVIER invited by Nachtzwemmen - Lieselot Siddiki, Ghent (BE)
2021 — atelier / collective action, OKAN Zomerschool, Ghent (BE)
2021 — residency & ongoing play at wooden cabine GAG with GC Nekkersdal, Brussels (BE)
2021 — art residency at BUDA, Kortrijk (BE)
2022 — art residency at School van Gaasbeek, Brussels (BE)
2022 — performance at GIF with NightShift / Gouvernement at empty shop in shopping center Zuid, Ghent (BE)
2022 — videoscreening & Q+A during the conference AGxKANSAI 2022 - Kyoto University of the Arts, Kyoto (JP)
2022 — art residency De Grote Post, Ostend (BE)
2022 — residency with ateliers at BROEI, Duivelsteen Ghent (BE)
2022 — expo & performance during Brussels Gallery Weekend - Generation Brussels, Brussels (BE)
2022 — installation & performance during Murf/Murw festival - Theater de Nieuwe Vorst, Tilburg (NL)
2022 — art residency & performance at beach cabine Pleasure Island, Ostend (BE)
2022 — installation and performance at CAMPO Nieuwpoort for A Shot at Love, Ghent (BE)
2023 — art residency at De Koer, Ghent (BE)
2023 — festival with open ateliers at De Koer, Ghent (BE)
2023 — food ritual during workshop by Melanie Bonajo When the body says yes at FOMU, Antwerp (BE)
2023 — art residency at radical_house, Brussels (BE)
2024 — performance during Pride & Paintings, invited by House Of Lux at the Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent (BE)
2024 — performance during Psycho Jazz at Dr. Guislain Museum with members of theatre group Lucinda Ra, Ghent (BE)
2024 — performance during Museum Nacht at Dr. Guislain Museum with Daan Dekeyser (Krietjur), Ghent (BE)
2025 — artist in residence at radical_house, Brussels (BE)
2025 — performance during Extractions with House of Lux at A Two Dogs Company, Brussels (BE)
2025 — artist in residence at racidal_house, Brussels (BE)
2025 — performance & installation during Caruna-top by CM at Tour and Taxis on invitation of Through Art We Care, Brussels (BE)
2026 — artist in residence, performance & installation at Nadine - n0dine, Brussels (BE)
2026 — performance & installation at Recyclart with Théâtre des Variétés, Brussels (BE)
