Nico Dockx: Pirate Pavilion in S.M.A.K.

The Pirate Pavilion was designed in 2023 by Nico Dockx, VOET Architectuur, and Studio Zuidervaart, commissioned by Be-Part Waregem. Conceived as an extension of Be-Part’s activities, it offered a way to step outside the safe, controlled environment of the exhibition space and connect with the public space and the city’s social fabric.

The result was an interdisciplinary laboratory – a meeting place where artists and the public engage in dialogue, with space for discussion, collaboration, and experimentation. Inspired by the structure of a spider’s web, the pavilion moves like a living organism: adaptable to its surroundings and open to appropriation.

Following its first installation in Park Baron Casier in Waregem, the pavilion travelled on to the Kortrijk Triennial in 2024, where it appeared as the Parrot Pavilion. It has now found a temporary home in Hall 1 of S.M.A.K. Ghent, where – under the title Tussen Piraten en Papegaaien (Between Pirates and Parrots) – it functions as an interactive studio during the exhibition Painting After Painting. Visitors, school groups, and other audiences can take part in guided workshops, each paired with an inspiring tour of the exhibition.

The pavilion was made possible with the support of the City of Waregem and Claessens Canvas.