In the beginning, there was… graffiti.

When the festival The Crystal Ship celebrates its tenth edition, it is because the murals that crisscross Ostend appeal to an exceptionally broad audience. This form of expression, which provokes as much empathy as it does questions, is called street art—the largest artistic movement ever to exist. One could say it is the legitimate—or perhaps foretold—daughter of graffiti, which at the dawn of the new millennium embraced the revolution of new communication tools: the internet, mobile phones, low-cost travel, digital photography, social media… In doing so, it began addressing not only its own peers, but all passersby, whoever they may be.

The exhibition SUBWAY ART proposes a return to the origins of street art, to a time when it was more sect than church, when it sought shadow rather than light—when it was still graffiti. As visitors enter the dark world of Fort Napoleon, they follow, like Ariadne’s thread, the traces left behind by an imaginary “writer,” collectively created by artists Bruno Brunet, Benoît Brasseur, and the Crafteke collective. The parcours becomes an initiation into the language of graffiti and its evolution from the 1960s to today.

The journey is playful, leading visitors past an interactive video installation, graffiti in the style of different eras, an artist’s studio, a subway carriage entirely covered in graffiti and tags, a freely accessible wall with luminous spray cans for the public, and a “graffiti tribunal.”

Whoever leaves Fort Napoleon is no longer just a visitor, but a new “writer.”

Tarieven

Adults: €14

Child 6 - 14 y: €9

Child < 6 y: free

  • Time slots are used in Fort Napoleon. During weekends and holiday periods, time slots are often sold out.
  • To guarantee a smooth visit to the Fort, it is advised to book your tickets in advance.
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