WIPCOOP, the Work in Progress Cooperative of Mestizo Arts Platform, is coming to Brussels for its twelfth edition. The platform offers both the arts sector and the public a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of what is brewing and developing, both on and behind the scenes, in the performing arts.

During WIPCOOP, a selection of artists presents 30 minutes of their Works in Progress. After each presentation, they engage in dialogue with dramaturges, production houses, producers and programmers about the work presented and possible forms of support. At the same time, the public can take part in roundtable conversations, while other exciting makers present short pitches.

WIPCOOP BXL 2026 artists:

Doris Bokongo Nkumu & Amadou Lamine Sow, Lemy Veyt, Ivan Kevork Azazian & Marios Bellas & Gökhan Kizilbuga, Myra Schouten & Yasmine Deroui, Izo Pinay and luz.

WIPCOOP is more than an annual event: it is an ongoing development programme in Brussels, Antwerp, Leuven and Ghent. The aim? To make new artistic work visible, stimulate dialogue, and bring artists and organisations together to further develop this work and bring it to audiences.

WIPCOOP BXL 2026

This edition features Doris Bokongo Nkumu & Amadou Lamine Sow, Lemy Veyt, Ivan Kevork Azazian & Marios Bellas & Gökhan Kizilbuga, Myra Schouten & Yasmine Deroui, Izo Pinay and luz, each presenting 30 minutes of their Works in Progress.

WEDNESDAY TIMETABLE

• 09:30 – 10:00 Hello: Coffee & tea + music intro by Junior Akwety & Bernardo Beirão + introduction to the Phantom Memories intervention
• 10:00 – 10:30 WIP 1: Izo Pinay — Thank God I’m Not Straight
• 10:30 – 11:30 Feedback & roundtable conversations
• 11:15 – 11:25 Pitch: Hannah Zaouad — Hoe zeg je “kom terug”?
• 11:30 – 12:00 WIP 2: Ivan Kevork Azazian & Marios Bellas & Gökhan Kizilbuga — Secret Songs
• 12:00 – 13:00 Feedback & roundtable conversations
• 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch: Enjoy a bowl of soup & bread
• 13:30 – 14:00 WIP 3: Myra Schouten & Yasmine Deroui — FATHERLAND
• 14:00 – 15:00 Feedback & roundtable conversations + let’s have a drink :—)

In Thank God I’m Not Straight, Izo moves religious discourse into a space of radical, inclusive and embodied love. Incompatible identities are reconciled, as Izo, both queer and Catholic, reclaims biblical texts.

Ivan, Gökhan and Marios use Secret Songs to reconnect with their brotherhood and explore what they share through their backgrounds in Palestine/Armenia, Kurdistan and Greece. They remember, honour and mourn what has been lost and what is being lost today, while inviting us to look ahead together.

Myra and Yasmine put their experiences into letters about travelling to Morocco, where both makers have roots. They long for a sense of belonging, but as personal memories become intertwined with migration history, research and the news, their perspective shifts (FATHERLAND).

THURSDAY TIMETABLE

• 09:30 – 10:00 Hello: Coffee & tea + music act by Lila Magnin + introduction to the Phantom Memoriesintervention
• 10:00 – 10:30 WIP 1: Lemy Veyt — Metronorm
• 10:30 – 11:30 Feedback & roundtable conversations
• 11:15 – 11:25 Pitch: Julia Färber Data — SOBRAN
• 11:30 – 12:00 WIP 2: Doris Bokongo Nkumu & Amadou Lamine Sow — Leugeute
• 12:00 – 13:00 Feedback & roundtable conversations
• 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch: Enjoy a bowl of soup & bread
• 13:30 – 14:00 WIP 3: luz — to swallow my grandmother’s tongue
• 14:00 – 15:00 Feedback & roundtable conversations + let’s have a drink

Between cinematic aesthetics and industrial rhythms, Lemy explores social bonds through the lens of the metro. InMetronorm, two dancers embody the obligatory sharing of space, shared rout(in)es and trajectories that collide.

Doris and Amadou Lamine dissect both the intimate and political dimensions of immigration in Leugeute Wolof for “scars” , a duet in which house, hip-hop, contemporary dance and traditional African dances merge.

luz starts from Cape Verdean children’s songs that seem to have taken deep root in the body in to swallow my grandmother’s tongue. How does the body respond to giving voice to a language you do not speak, but that nevertheless flows through your veins?

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After each presentation, the artists engage in dialogue with dramaturges, production houses, producers and programmers about the work presented and possible forms of support. At the same time, the public can take part in roundtable conversations, while other exciting makers present short pitches.

Programme and free admission from 09:30 to 15:00.