Curators

Patrick Ronse

1962, Beernem | Lives in Bruges

Patrick Ronse has been the director and artistic leader of Be-Part, Platform for Contemporary Art in Kortrijk and Waregem since 2004. He studied Art History and Archaeology at Ghent University and previously worked at PMMK-Ostend (now Mu.ZEE) and the Municipal Museums of Bruges. From 1999 to 2002, he was part of the team of Bruges 2002, Cultural Capital of Europe.

Ronse co-founded Be-Part in 2004 and remains the driving force behind the platform to this day. Since 2018, Be-Part has been active not only in Waregem but also in Kortrijk, building an impressive track record of high-profile exhibitions.

In addition, Ronse was co-curator of Beaufort 2015, and, together with Hilde Teerlinck, curated the first three editions of Triennial Kortrijk: PLAY (2018), PARADISE (2021), and AFTER PARADISE (2024).

In 2023, he co-organised, together with Martina Milla, the exhibition Imaginary Friends at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona–named by Time Out as the best exhibition of the year in the city. Alongside his curatorial practice, Patrick Ronse is also closely involved in the editing and publication of numerous art books.

Barbara De Coninck

1965, Bruges | Lives in Antwerp

Barbara De Coninck has an extensive background in artistic and production-related work, both in Belgium and abroad. She is also an experienced writer of artist texts and catalogues. She studied Romance Languages–French and Italian Literature–at the University of Leuven and currently works part-time for VAI.
Between 1992 and 2018, she held various positions at Troubleyn vzw, including Production Manager, Managing Director, and actor/performer. From 2002 to 2018, she served as General Director of Angelos bvba. Since 2021, she has been working freelance as an author and artistic advisor for galleries and artists.

Her writings appear in, among others, GLEAN Magazine and on Pompidou (VRT/Klara). Her texts have been published by Skira, Mercatorfonds, Silvana Editoriale, Gallimard, Posture Editions, and Art Paper Editions.

Barbara De Coninck is also an avid ornithologist and the author of De Staartpen van de Vuurvogel. Over vogels, rituelen en rouw (Lannoo, Academia Press, 2018). On VRT Max, she co-hosts the nine-part podcast De Vogelaars with Sara Debroey.