Próximamente Festival at the KVS: Latin America reclaims its own stories

From 17 to 21 November, the Próximamente Festival returns to Brussels for a new edition dedicated to Latin American performing arts. More than 40 artists will travel to the city for five days of theatre, dance, performance and encounters. This year, the festival seeks to bring forgotten stories to light and imagine new futures for them.

Who gets to tell History? And, more importantly, who has the power to decide which stories deserve to be told? From Argentina's dictatorship to the Indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego, from political violence in Peru to new Andean cosmologies, this year's Próximamente Festival invites us to rethink our perception of Latin America. An invitation that takes on particular significance in an international context marked by fake news, the rewriting of history and the resurgence of repressive policies in Europe and across the Latin American continent.

Founded in 2019, the festival has gradually established itself as a distinctive highlight on Brussels' cultural scene. For a few days, the Royal Flemish Theatre (KVS) becomes a meeting point for contemporary Latin American creativity. This year, the organisers aim to go one step further: to turn Próximamente into a genuine platform for artistic cooperation, connecting creators, practices and networks from the Global South and its diasporas.

When History Refuses to Disappear

Among the highlights of this year's programme is Claudia, by Claudia Poblete, Eugenio Szwarcer and the collective La Conquesta del Pol Sud. The production takes us back to one of the most painful periods in Argentina's history. It draws on the extraordinary life story of Claudia Poblete, who was abducted as a baby during the country's last military dictatorship and raised under a different identity. Years later, her true identity was restored. Through this individual story, the production explores memory, truth and the lasting impact of historical violence on people's lives.

Another territory, another struggle with memory: El Rincón de los Muertos, a Peruvian production by Sebastián Rubio and Yanira Dávila, explores personal and collective memories of the political violence that deeply scarred the Ayacucho region. In this part of the Andes, severely affected by Peru's internal armed conflict, the memories of those who disappeared and lost their lives continue to shape everyday existence. Theatre, the body and tradition become tools for bringing generations into dialogue and restoring a place to those too often left in the shadows of official history.

Colonial representations are also at the heart of Ojo Salvaje, by Chilean artist Sebastián Escalona. Through photography and images, the artist revisits the forgotten history of the Selk'nam people, an Indigenous community of Tierra del Fuego whose existence was profoundly disrupted by colonisation. By bringing this memory into dialogue with such unexpected references as a Bauhaus artist and a penguin, Escalona questions the way we look at peoples and territories, as well as the power of those who have long written their histories on their behalf.

What Futures for Our Stories?

Próximamente does not simply look back. It seeks to bring the legacies of the past into dialogue with visions of the future. This is precisely the ambition behind Xenoceno, by Peruvian artist Claudix Vanesix. Through an approach described as Andean futurism, the artist brings ancestral knowledge and Andean cosmologies into conversation with new technologies, artificial intelligence and posthumanism. It is an approach that challenges the familiar opposition between tradition and modernity. What if the answers to the major technological transformations of our time could also be found in systems of thought long dismissed as archaic?

The festival also makes room for more experimental works. With Choclo, Choclo, Pochoclo, Marta Salinas presents a performative, sound-based and choreographic reading of Latin America's complex relationship with money, debt and cycles of indebtedness. An original artistic subject that reminds us that power relations are shaped not only through collective imaginaries and memories, but also through the economic mechanisms that continue to define the continent.

Brussels: A Crossroads of Cultures and Resistance

One of Próximamente's greatest strengths lies precisely in its ability to bring together artistic scenes that, despite their richness, too often remain distant from European cultural circuits. The festival does more than simply bring performances from Latin America to Brussels: it seeks to build spaces for encounters, cooperation and exchange between artists on both sides of the Atlantic.

This ambition is also reflected in its growing openness to diasporas and artists based in Europe. As a cosmopolitan city and a crossroads of migration journeys, Brussels provides particularly fertile ground for such encounters. This year, the VUB joins the festival with Mindblowers, a concept that brings art and science together. Through personal testimonies, research and artistic projects, participants will explore what remains when people are forced into exile, when entire chapters of history disappear or when certain forms of knowledge are pushed to the margins.

This desire to build a sense of community can also be found in the shared meals between artists and audiences, as well as in the Latin karaoke taking place on Friday evening, ahead of a major closing party organised with Gelatina, a collective that has become a key player on Brussels' cultural scene. In a society increasingly turning inwards and prioritising individualism, coming together, sharing and keeping stories alive is already a form of resistance.

With more than 40 artists gathering in Brussels, Próximamente ultimately reminds us that Latin America cannot be reduced either to its historical wounds or to the images projected onto it. It is a continent brimming with creativity, dissent and constant reinvention. And perhaps ghost memories are not those of the dead, but those of the living who continue to carry their stories.

The Próximamente Festival will take place from 17 to 21 November 2026 at the KVS and various partner venues across Brussels. Discover the full programme and practical information on the KVS website.