verBELGingsfeest - BELGifête - BELGification Party

BELGification party is a ceremony and an artistic experiment that asks how hospitality might enter the bureaucratic body of the state. It starts with a simple question: what if becoming Belgian was treated not merely as an administrative formality, but as a shared civic celebration? Changing one’s citizenship is arguably one of the most significant transitions in life.

The project proposes a ritual to welcome those who have recently received Belgian nationality, while dissolving the distinction between “new” and “old” Belgians. From the moment the ceremony begins, everyone present becomes part of a collective body: a temporary community that symbolically reconstitutes the nation through an act of attention and care.

The project originates from a personal experience. On April 1, 2022, after almost ten years of living in Belgium, Anyuta Wiazemsky Snauwaert was finally able to write: “I declare my intention to become a Belgian citizen and will adhere to the Constitution, the laws of the Belgian people, and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.”

After a long demanding process, that was it. No ceremony. No celebration. No ritual to mark the transition to a new nationality. This experience is shared by many. Becoming Belgian can be emotionally exhausting, yet when the moment finally arrives, there is no one there to welcome you. This absence is not only unfortunate for new citizens, but also a missed opportunity for society as a whole. While we may come from different backgrounds, we share something essential: our future.

• Anyuta Wiazemsky Snauwaert lives and works in Brussels. They studied law at the Moscow State Law Academy, Russia (2007-2011), fine arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent (2013-2017), and sociology at Ghent University (2017-2024). These diverse backgrounds in law, fine arts, and sociology form the foundation of their artistic practice, influencing both its content and form. As a multidisciplinary artist, Anyuta works at the intersection of visual arts, in situ performance, theater, and participatory art. Their work explores the theme of intimacy through hyper-personal reflections, constantly questioning the boundary between the private and the public, the individual and the collective. From a sociological perspective, they investigate how people create meaning and how interactions unfold within social structures. At the same time, they examine how the hyper-personal can engage in dialogue with bureaucratic systems and legal frameworks. This results in an artistic practice where intimacy is not separate from the societal but deeply intertwined with it.

Their work has been presented in Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Portugal, UK, and India, including at Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Kaaitheater in Brussels, De Brakke Grond in Amsterdam, and Kunsttempel in Kassel. It encompasses installations, performances, participatory projects, and lectures. Since 2016, Anyuta has collaborated with Kim Snauwaert on BETWEEN US, a long-term research project exploring the relationship between art, law, and social structures.