Kunsthal Extra City and the Guillaume Bijl Estate present In Remembrance of the Earldom of Watou, Guillaume Bijl’s first posthumous exhibition and an exceptional project that was previously shown only once, during Kunstenfestival Watou in 2002.

Twenty-four years later, this unique work is being reconstructed for the first time in the former Dominican church of Kunsthal Extra City. The installation brings together a fictional-historical museum, a banquet hall, theatrical set and live theatre. The Early Years of the Earldom of Watou, the only theatre piece in Bijl’s oeuvre, forms an integral part of the installation. The piece combines historical and fictional elements, playing with the boundary between fact and imagination. For this new version, the theatre piece is directed by Vanessa Van Goethem, with dramaturgy by artist Aline Bouvy and performed by Antwerp-based amateur actors.

As characteristic of Bijl’s practice, the project brings history and imagination, humour and critical reflection together in an immersive experience in which fact and fiction continually overlap.

The theatre piece

The Early Years of the Earldom of Watou is performed live only on Saturdays, at 15:00 and 17:00. The performance lasts approximately 20 minutes.

On Saturdays, the kunsthal is exclusively accessible to visitors with a ticket for one of the performances. A performance ticket gives access to the performance and the associated parts of the installation, but not to the exhibition in its entirety. Those wishing to explore the complete installation — including the fictional-historical museum and banquet hall — can visit on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, according to our Pay What You Can system.

Book your ticket for a performance

The exhibition runs from 24 October to 27 December 2026.