Level Five

Level Five is an artist cooperative founded and active in Brussels since 2019. Through its collective organization, it provides working spaces for more than 120 artist-members and develops programmes to support creative practices in visual arts, film, live arts, theatre, architecture, writing and curating.

Currently with facilities over three locations in different Brussels municipalities (Molenbeek, Ganshoren, and Vorst/Forest), Level Five fosters artistic development, taking inspiration from democratic models of action and decisionmaking. Two coordinators, an advisory board and a council formed by volunteering members runs and organizes Level Five’s basic obligations as a non-profit association. At the same time, targeted workgroups develop ideas and solutions to the challenges encountered along the way.

Level Five’s view of art as a social and democratic practice is that multiple perspectives can only find their expression from aesthetic plurality. Ever since its foundation, Level Five has been committed to this idea, which can be seen in the plurality of backgrounds, languages and experiences of the people who make it. 

Fostering a culture of mutual support among its members, Level Five cultivates alliances with other artists, initiatives and organizations in Brussels and abroad, maintaining discussions internally and in the larger societal context.

The organization aims at a lively and plural culture that narrows down the gap between production and presentation in the arts. The commons shared by the community are conceived as open spaces that can transform into different shapes for social action. Members and visitors give these spaces a collective form by sharing a meal, watching screenings, making and viewing exhibitions, attending lectures, and participating in discussions. Unlike many other European cities, Brussels lacks dedicated infrastructure and policies to protect working spaces for artists. Level Five seeks to fill this gap by making use of underutilized buildings in the city. Currently relying on short-term rentals to provide accessible studio space, it is eager to invest in long-term solutions, such as property ownership or freehold options. Step by step, Level

Five builds a cooperative organization that can ensure a sustainable network of

artist studios as well as a supportive environment for artistic initiatives,

development and exchange.

Level Five brings forward its interdependency with the local ecology. It is part of UFO, a coalition of artist studio organizations in Flanders, assigned to report on artists’ studio policy in Brussels. Thanks to the research developed over the last six years to allow the creation of long-term affordable artist studio infrastructure, Level Five received the Flemish Bouwmeester Label and has been acknowledged as an Actor of Urban Change.

Level Five has been recently selected to participate in the two-year curatorial program at De Appel in Amsterdam, together with five other international artist organizations to further discuss and develop cooperative structures to support cultural initiatives.