ASFALT Festival Ghent
Talks on art, music and sport during the Ghent European Youth Capital festival.
ASFALT Festival: Talks on art, music and sport
For the first edition of ASFALT Festival in Ghent, PLUS-ONE x A.P./Studio curated and hosted a three-part talk series that connected art, music and sports within one urban culture framework. Spread across three Fridays, each evening brought together leading voices from a specific creative field to reflect on how their practice resonates with the street and with today’s hybrid, networked world.
Together, these three nights positioned ASFALT not only as a sports and street‑culture festival, but as a platform where art, sound and movement meet and where practitioners can exchange knowledge across scenes.
On “Art: Art in the Digital Age”, artists Aykun Umut, Loulou João and Victor Verhelst spoke about working across screens, 3D, animation and installation, showing how digital tools can generate new visual languages and identities.
“Music: Sound Waves of Today” gave the floor to Nele De Gussem, Yalla Soundsystem and Spreej, weaving live sets and conversation about making music in a time of streaming, algorithms and globalised influences.
The final evening, “Sports: Pushing Boundaries”, focused on extreme sports as both discipline and culture, with Kapow vzw, Belgian flatland BMX champion Barre Neirynck and Red Bull athlete Viki Gómez sharing their trajectories and performing a live demo.
Team
Client: Stad Gent, Toerisme Vlaanderen
Artists: Aykun Umut, Loulou João, Victor Verhelst, Nele De Gussem, Yalla Soundsystem, Spreej, Kapow VZW (Matthias Hoogewys), Barre Neirynck, Red Bull athlete Viki Gómez
Event curation, talks & panels host: PLUS-ONE Projects & A.P./Studio: Thomas De Ben
On site production company: Lucky Tree
Logistics: Fast Forward Events
Technical partner: Edisons
Communication & PR: Walkie Talkie
Brand identity: Toykyo
Photography & video: Studio Sylvester, Jo Photographix, Kim Bogaert
Partners: Stad Gent, Bar Bricolage, Tout Bien Pils, Red Bull
Artists highlight
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Visual artist Aykan Umut was originally trained as a craft‑based animation artist and has grown into an established digital creator. Over the years he has developed into a contemporary visual digital artist whose work moves between motion design, illustration and branded visual worlds. In the past decade, numerous urban and music‑related brands and artists have collaborated with him, including Alicia Keys, Moncler Genius and Swizz Beatz.
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Loulou João is an Afro‑Belgian digital artist with roots in Congo. Her work revolves around themes such as staying true to yourself, mental health and identity, all filtered through the colourful “João universe”. From this world she casts a different light on the stories of women from the African diaspora, using lush 3D imagery and a highly aesthetic palette to build a Kawaii‑like reality as a safe haven. She has worked internationally for major brands including BMW, Adult Swim, The New Yorker and many others.
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Victor Verhelst is a Belgian visual artist represented by PLUS‑ONE Gallery. In June 2020 he left the collective Les Monseigneurs, which he co‑founded, to pursue his own trajectory. His autonomous work spans very different media: from purely digital pieces to unique risograph prints, from large wall tapestries to works with interactive game technology. All of these start from his digital canvas, where his ongoing series “trippy vegas” unfolds; a growing digital city composed of virtual skylines and buildings.
Remixing, distorting and collaging 2D and 3D image planes into figurative colour combinations is what defines his visual language: from print to digital to 3D, from risography to textiles, always working with the relationship between materiality and the pre‑existing digital image. His work is part of the permanent collection of Design Museum Gent, has featured in various exhibitions and international fairs with PLUS‑ONE Gallery, and includes permanent art integrations at Kunsthal Mechelen and a major commission for a Dutch government building in The Hague, as well as a first large institutional textile work of 40 metres.
All three artists also feature in the skateboard exhibition at ASFALT Festival, with Victor Verhelst creating the large 019 flag that will fly over the Houtdok.
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Nele De Gussem is a composer, vocalist and multi‑instrumentalist. She plays in bands such as Maya’s Moving Castle, delvaux., Future Old People Are Wizards, BRNS and Uma Chine; her main project, often described as “Angelo Badalamenti on a diet of electric guitars and ethereal female voices”. She will soon release new solo work, for which she collaborated with Victor Verhelst on the visuals.
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Rooted in Ghent, globally influenced, Yalla Soundsystem is a collective of DJs and producers Bader, Acid Ponch and friends. They bring an eclectic mix of rhythmic genres such as bass, jungle, dubstep, grime, footwork and acid, combined with sounds like Shaabi, Raï, Gnawa and Mahraganat. In October they will headline a major show at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.
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Spreej is the alter ego of Christophe Caboche, a rapper who spent most of his life in Nieuw Gent and was known until the 2015 split as half of Safi & Spreej. After the split he stepped back completely, but giving up was never an option; his story was not finished, even though his burning ambition was temporarily put on hold. The spark returned when Johannes Verschaeve (The Van Jets) took him under his wing and brought him back on track musically. Spreej rediscovered the power of his pen, rose like a phoenix and returned with renewed energy.
He recently released a new record whose imagery was created by Aykan Umut (also one of the speakers), with graphic design by Toykyo, the studio behind the ASFALT visual identity.
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Kapow vzw is a Ghent‑based organisation that describes itself as an open playground for contemporary urban culture. It is a melting pot of skate, art and music; a base camp that connects young people, knows what is happening in the neighbourhood and creates positive waves. You simply cannot organise ASFALT in Ghent without inviting Kapow, a local fixture in spreading the love of art, music and sport.
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Barre Neirynck is a three‑time Belgian Flatland BMX champion; often called the “breakdance of cycling”. He teaches workshops and classes, and is part of the Pedal To The Medal show team led by Kenny Belaey, promoting their passion for biking nationally and internationally. Barre is sponsored by Grounded BMX Shop and RLVNT Benelux, and within ASFALT he oversees all BMX‑related programming.
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Viki Gómez is an internationally renowned Flatland BMX rider from Madrid (Spain). He is a three‑time world champion, two‑time vice world champion, five‑time FISE champion, two‑time X‑Games champion, three‑time Red Bull Circle of Balance champion and three‑time NORA Cup Awards winner in his discipline; widely regarded as the global number one in Flatland. He is sponsored by Red Bull, G‑Shock and Tenga.
