The latest chapter in the story of Objects with Narratives is the opening of The Grand Sablon 40, a remarkable new gallery occupying one of Brussels' most distinguished historic buildings. Located in the cultural heart of the city, on the prestigious Place du Grand Sablon, the venue reflects the neighbourhood's long-standing reputation as a centre for art, antiques and contemporary collecting.
Built in the 1920s in the Beaux-Arts style, the building originally served as the headquarters of one of Belgium's leading fur companies. Over the decades, it has undergone several transformations, first becoming a museum and later the headquarters of Pierre Bergé's auction house, founded by the late business partner and husband of Yves Saint Laurent. Today, the building enters a new phase as a vibrant destination dedicated to collectible design and contemporary artistic practice. Extending across more than 2,000 square metres, the gallery unfolds as a sequence of interconnected spaces, each conceived with its own narrative. The visitor's journey begins in the richly ornamented historic ballroom, once frequented by Brussels' bourgeoisie as a showcase of elegance and fashion. From there, the experience continues through a reimagined director's office before opening into the gallery's white-cube exhibition spaces, where sculpture and collectible design take centre stage. The upper floors accommodate dedicated projects, solo exhibitions, curated presentations and an adaptable showroom conceived as a flexible platform for experimentation, dialogue and discovery. Through an ambitious programme of exhibitions, events and artistic collaborations, Objects with Narratives offers an international platform for both emerging and established designers and artists. Among those represented are two Romanian creatives whose solo exhibitions exemplify the gallery's commitment to material experimentation and conceptual storytelling.
METEOR SHOWERS - Solo Exhibition by Marius Ritiu
Romanian sculptor Marius Ritiu explores themes of borders, nationalism and collective responsibility through works that reflect on the shared experience of humanity. His sculptures invite viewers to reconsider ideas of identity and belonging, suggesting that seemingly disparate lives and cultures remain fundamentally interconnected. For Meteor Showers, the gallery presents an imaginative fictional narrative inspired by science fiction. According to the exhibition's story, an advanced civilisation known as the Zoraxians creates extraordinary copper sculptures resembling meteorites and sends them across the universe to Earth, offering humanity a symbolic gift of creativity, beauty and shared imagination. This playful narrative becomes a poetic framework through which Ritiu's sculptures explore migration, transformation and the circulation of ideas across cultures and generations.
OUT OF THE FIRE - Solo Exhibition by Mircea Anghel
Romanian artist and designer Mircea Anghel embraces the inherent beauty of natural processes, creating works from responsibly sourced reclaimed materials infused with rich narrative meaning. Out of the Fire explores the transformative power of fire through a collection of sculptural furniture and wooden objects whose surfaces have been intentionally charred to reveal their raw, primordial beauty. Rather than concealing traces of transformation, Anghel celebrates them, allowing destruction and creation to coexist within each piece. The result is a compelling body of work that reflects on resilience, renewal and the quiet poetry of material transformation.
www.objectswithnarratives.com
Photography by Tijs Vervecken
Words by Andreea Dicianu
Discover the full version of this story in Volume III.