The Worlds of Bruges
Musea Brugge, Brugge (BE), 2026
What do you see when you look at medieval Bruges through a wider lens? Not an isolated city, but a city connected to the world. For the opening exhibition of the new art hall BRUSK, Studio Louter helped develop the concept.
A new art hall
With BRUSK, Bruges has gained a new cultural hotspot. The art hall provides space for leading exhibitions, events, and research, and invites visitors to view, experience, and discuss art. For the opening exhibition ‘Bigger Picture: Connected Worlds of Bruges 900-1550’, Studio Louter and Musea Brugge laid the conceptual foundations.
Together, we laid the foundation
During a pressure cooker session, we shaped the exhibition concept ‘The worlds of Bruges – Broaden your perspective at BRUSK’. The starting point: Bruges never stood alone. Through trade, culture and politics, the city was connected to the rest of the world. We translated this idea into a mosaic narrative: a collection of stories, perspectives, and masterpieces that together form a new image of Bruges. To create coherence, we developed a story triangle. This gave the exhibition’s different stories a shared structure and helped them contribute to the core message: Open your perspective.
Photos by Jan Darthet and Stad Brugge
A shared grammar
The concept and story triangle formed the basis for the briefing to the scenographer. In addition, we provided our exhibit typology as a guide for the use of media and storytelling tools. By working with recurring modes of communication, a recognisable grammar emerges that offers visitors guidance throughout their journey across the different worlds of Bruges.
The concept was further developed and realised by Tinker Imagineers, Ocular Shohso and Bruns. Together they brought the many worlds of Bruges to life in BRUSK’s first exhibition. This exhibition also marks the starting point for an ongoing collaboration between Musea Brugge and Studio Louter.
“The exhibition adds a new dimension to the historiography of the city. While this has traditionally focused on the exceptional nature of Bruges as a self-contained centre (...), attention is now directed instead towards its interconnectedness with distant regions and cultures.”
Bram de Klerk, art critic in NRC — May 29, 2026
Credits
Client
Musea BruggeContent Design
Studio LouterSpatial Design
Tinker ImagineersHardware & Software AV
OcularContent Design Film
ShoshoConstruction
Bruns
Pers
NRC — 29 May 2026
“The city of Bruges was a hub in the globalising Middle Ages.” (Dutch article)VRT NWS — 6 May 2026
“BRUSK opens in Bruges with a city-wide celebration, a broad perspective on the Middle Ages, and AI art.” (Dutch article)De Standaard — 5 May 2026
“Bruges' new art hall BRUSK shows quiet promise.” (Dutch article)