Bart Van Dijck

[bartvandijck]

Call for young dreamers, seekers, explorers, ...

ÏNTERZONE SMMR CAMP 31/8 - 4.9.26

Do you feel a desire to go offline and retreat into nature, to recharge, to rewild, to shed your ‘old skin’?

Înterzone Smmr Camp is a transformative, 4-day adventure that takes you on a journey of self-discovery, inviting you to step out of your comfort zone and awaken your inner fire and strength.

We camp, cook and eat, under the trees, in a quiet spot in nature, not far from Antwerp. Using found and natural materials, we make ritual objects that are activated and charged with meaning so they can help us gain insights. We break the silence for conversations and jam sessions. In a ceremonial circle we work with the four wind directions and their symbolism. The fire and the trees become our teachers.

The week culminates into a threshold ritual, where we leave to the old behind and enter a new phase of life.

Înterzone Smmr Camp is a pivotal moment where you are given tools to help you navigate in a sometimes chaotic world..

Artist Bart Van Dijck founded the Înterzone Smmr Camp in 2019 in response to the lack of rites of passage in our society. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) and has completed courses in Experiential Therapy & Shamanism, Rites of Life, Firekeeper Training (Agape), and Journey into Rites of Passage (ROP Institute). In his doctoral research ÎNTERZONE (architecture of the ritual space), he explored the transformative potential of art and rituals.

The program will be co-guided by Marte Lambaerts and Rune Tuerlinckx, participants from previous editions.

Applications: email with your date of birth, telephone number, a brief introduction about yourself and your motivation to [email protected] by 31.5.26.

Limited places, min. 5, max. 8 participants.

Anyone with a curious and open mind is welcome; no experience necessary.

Priority for age group 18–28y., but motivation is more important than the age.

Contribution: pay what you can (€120–€140–€160), this includes food and stay.

Let us know if you are struggling financially and we will find a solution together.

Intake interviews: between 1.6 and 21.6, after which the group will be formed.

Meeting & briefing: Sunday 28.6.26 – 15h15 in Berchem

Camp: Monday 31.8 – Friday 4.9 2026

more info:

https://youtu.be/qP4WpEy3fAc?si=OwJ-TYNq1pwsjeJT

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ÎNTERZONE THRESHOLD CARDS

2025

These cards were created during my artistic PhD project ÎNTERZONE (architecture of the ritual space) and deal with change, growth, decay and the cycle of the seasons. The cards are a way to unlock my research and give an overview of the threshold rituals I organized, sometimes in collaboration with other artists and sometimes linked to specific moments in the year. However, they can also be used autonomously as a way to stimulate your imagination and connect with your intuition or unconscious. They can offer answers to specific questions, or inspire new insights. Sometimes they even behave like magical helpers.

Edition of 200, available at Tique Art Space (Antwerp) or at the Library of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp)

https://tique.space/library/publications/bart-van-dijck-interzone-threshold-cards/

Contact me for card readings.

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Public PhD defence by Bart Van Dijck

ÎNTERZONE (architecture of the ritual space)

→ Friday 7 November 2025 - room K2.1, RAFA

Jury: Arjen Mulder, Barbara Raes, Els Dietvorst, Elvira Crois, Gert Verschraegen, Nico Dockx, Paolo Favero and Walter Weyns

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Bart Van Dijck’s PhD explores the transformative potential of art and rituals, focusing on how ritual spaces can foster empowerment and healing.

During these four years, Van Dijck developed a series of participatory projects he considers to be social sculptures or threshold rituals such as: Ancestor Walk, SMTH SSNK NGHTWLK, Dying Bear Meditation (with Marius Popa), Fledglings (with Ignace Cami), TUSKS 1:1 - Spring Celebration (with Slekke a.o.), FOX & FIREWLK, What the Fire Brings and ÎNTERZONE SMMR CAMP.

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Bart Van Dijck conducted his PhD research (2021-2025) at the Royal Academy Antwerp (AP Hogeschool) and at the University of Antwerp (ARIA).

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pdf ÎNTERZONE (architectuur van de rituele ruimte) op aanvraag (Nl.) via contact of info/at/bartvandijck.be

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TUSKS 1:1 - SPRING CELEBRATION 21.4.2025 Blikfabriek Hoboken

photo: Deveny Faruque

The space smells of fir tree, boiled potatoes, burned mugwort and spring onions, a soothing sound in the background, boiling water and clothes being torn. Boar screams. Four special glasses on the table, each holding a thought or a wish. Flaxseed and onion relish, wood ear mushroom, parsnip and salsify with juniper and spring greenery waiting to be savoured. Winter feet and walnut leaves are bathing together in warm water, naked feet covered with ivy leaves in the glow of a grow light. This is how we crossed the threshold from Winter to Spring together. hosted by Zinaïda Tchelidze and Hadas Cnaani, Ariane Van der Rauwelaert, Egon Beeckman, Marte Lambaerts, Slekke and I.

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NESTFLEERS 21.2 2025- Nacht van de Academies, Herentals

Nestfleers, a collaboration with Ignace Cami, is a participatory ongoing project based on fictional folklore.

We invited students from the Academy of Herentals to imagine mythical creatures, the ‘Nestfleers’, through collective imagination. These beings embody the urge of young animals to leave the nest. At the end of the workshop, the participants became the Nestfleers using costumes and masks.

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SMTH SSNK NGHTWLK (Kalmthoutse Heide)

between autumn equinox and spring equinox

We walk in silence, in a dark and sandy, dreamlike landscape.  Alone and yet together, we leave the old behind and welcome something new, like a smooth snake shedding its skin so it can grow. SMTH SSNK NGHTWLK is a ritualized walk for inspiration, introspection & renewal.

(NGHTWLKS can also be organized on request)

photo: Giulia Cautig

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ÎNTERZONE SMMR CAMP

2024, Noorderkempen, BE

Nine brave young people crossed the threshold and entered a new phase with their gifts and strengths, as part of the Înterzone Smmr Camp,

Înterzone Smmr Camp is a transformative, experiential retreat I created for students and young adults, in response to a lack of contemporary, meaningful rites of passage in our society.

The call for the next edition will be launched in April 2025

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SILENT SSNK WLK & FIRE WLK

2024 Vinderup, DK

Bonfire Intensive was a 4 week project for people aged 19-29, a creative experiment in sacred activism, organized by Sarah John. in a small town in Denmark. I organized for the group a Silent Ssnk NghtWlk to the Skånsø lake and a Fire Wlk in the garden of Hasselholt Træværksted, Vinderup.

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ÎNTERZÓNA

2024, Sutnar Faculty, Pilzen, CZ

A transformative week, at the intersection between art, therapy and ritual. Înterzona was a journey to our inner self, where we stepped out of our comfort zone, faced our demons and tapped into our inner strength. The week culminated into a threshold ritual, where we left the old behind and welcomed the new.

Organized in the frame of Art Camp 24.

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NESTVLIEDERS

2024, Turnhout, BE

with Xin Hu Gao, Annaluisa Ivanciuc, Lotte van den Boom, Danté Verheyen, Thimo Vosters, Shanti Wouters, Emmanuel Yagobnegad Hege, Rila Akrawi, Emma Gielis, Thimo Gysen, Liesel Helsen, Perla-Poppy Loreti, Benthe Mertens, Lauren Nicol, Jenka Simons, Linde Thiré, Jade Van Rillaer, Rikkert Van Tichelen, Dency Verbruggen, Lia Vermeire, Belle Vleugels (Heilig Graf, Turnhout)

𝘕𝘌𝘚𝘛𝘝𝘓𝘐𝘌𝘋𝘌𝘙𝘚, a collaboration between Bart Van Dijck and Ignace Cami, is a participatory project based on fictional folklore. The artists invite groups of people to imagine mythical creatures, the 'Nestvlieders' , through collective imagination. These hybrid creatures embody the urge of young animals to leave the nest.

Nestvlieders - video presented in the show 𝘏𝘠𝘉𝘙𝘐𝘋𝘌𝘕 (8.06-17.11.2024 curated by Tom Liekens & Glenn Geerinck, Warande, Turnhout, BE)

watch video: https://youtu.be/IsG1vmpsBdY?si=VmejkkcMmOoud3Cy

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TUSKS 1:1 – SPRING CELEBRATION

22.3.2024 Blikfabriek, Hoboken

Hosted by Evelien Alexiou, Marjolein Callewaert, Egon Beeckman, Stan D’Haene, Bart Van Dijck and Blikfabriek.

Past the spring equinox, the days are getting longer. We say goodbye to winter, the dark, the cold and the old and welcome spring, the light and the new.

We treat the feet of the participants with recipes from folk medicine, serve healing teas and offer seasonal plants, while cutting away each others' winter clothes with boar tusks.

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FOX & FIRE WALK

3.3 2024, Antwerp

A transformative journey in two parts: The first part, the fox trip, is individual and introspective. The second part, the firewalk, is collective and expressive. The firewalk is a powerful, ancient ritual organized worldwide to celebrate seasonal transitions, for healing, gratitude or to facilitate moments of passage. I also organize firewalks on request.

photo: Marjolein Callewaert

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WHAT THE FIRE BRINGS

3.2.2024 Academie, Herentals

People give something to the fire that they want to leave behind. In return they get a drawing of the flames, made with the charcoal.

In collaboration with Seppe Van Besauw

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ÎNTERZONE SMMR CAMP

2023, Kapellen

Înterzone Smmr Camp is a transformative, experiential workshop I created for students and young adults, in response to a lack of contemporary, meaningful rites of passage in our society.

During the Înterzone Smmr Camp, we withdraw from our daily lives, in a particular location or natural setting. Combining elements from animism, shamanism, therapy and ancient European practices, we make medicine, to heal the relationship with ourselves, the others and the environment. We make sculptures with natural and found materials, and charge them with meaning so they can help us to gain insights. The highlight is shaped by a threshold ritual, where we symbolically say goodbye to the old and enter a new phase in our lives.

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ÎNTERZÓNA

2023, Sutnar Faculty, Pilzen, CZ

The Înterzóna week, at the intersection between art, therapy and ritual, gave its participants a very intense transformational experience and took them on a journey to their inner self. The workshop took them out of their comfort zones, taught them to create ritual space and time, face their demons and realize their strengths. They also created symbolic sculptures from natural materials. The course culminated in a ritual of crossing the threshold between the past and the new future.

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MDSMMRNGHTWLK

2023, Ardennen

Over a bonfire we eat the last asparagus of the season. When the sun sets, we step into the shortest night of the year. Alone and yet together, we walk in silence in the woods, leaving the old behind and welcoming new possibilities.

photo: Tamara Sam Garcia

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102 OAKS

2023

On the occasion of Joseph Beuys' 100th birthday in 2021, the 100 Oaks project started. I sought 100 adoptive parents for 100 oak trees I raised. Meanwhile, these oaks are growing in 100 different places in nine different countries. In the year 101 (2022), I raised another oak for adoption. This year, the year 102, two new saplings are ready foir adoption. Meet us on Sunday, May 21st at 3 pm at Coppejans Gallery, Antwerp, if you are interested in adopting a common oak sapling + oak leaf amulet (free donation)