With Welcome Little Stranger, he takes a step outside the realm of fashion and creates an artistic environment that invites children to explore, move around, and -above all - play.

FROM FASHION TO PLAYGROUND

Van Beirendonck is known for his distinctive visual language, colorful shapes, and socially engaged designs. His work often deals with identity, diversity, and fantasy, themes that also recur in Welcome Little Stranger.

Van Beirendonck's design is based on the theme of extraterrestrial life and invites visitors to meet a mysterious ‘little stranger’.

“I wanted to design an environment that stimulates children to use their imagination, without screens or digital distractions. Welcome Little Stranger is about wonder, about the joy of discovery and playing together, without boundaries,” says Walter Van Beirendonck.

The project is unique because it is the first time that Van Beirendonck has translated his vision into an interactive play area. In doing so, he is not only exploring the boundaries of his own discipline, but also those of what a play area can be: a place that is more than just a playground, where art and play challenge each other.

PLAY AS A MINDSET

Since 2023, C-mine has been developing projects through its PLAY label that encourage young and old alike to play again – creatively, qualitatively, and artistically. The playful summer exhibition Any Way the Wind Blows (2024), which attracted 20,000 visitors, was an important first step in this direction. With PLAYGROUND, C-mine is powerfully continuing this vision.

Play is an essential part of our culture and society. C-mine not only wants to facilitate play, but also cultivate it as a mindset. PLAYGROUND is a creative laboratory where art and play reinforce each other, and where children can take on an autonomous role. It is not a scaled-down version of the adult world, but is fully tailored to children.

“It is important to us to give children co-ownership of a work of art and a creative process. Their imagination is unique and deserves every opportunity to flourish,” explains Laurens Mariën, curator of PLAY. 
 

FOR CHILDREN, WITH CHILDREN

This autonomous role and co-ownership of children form the basis of the project. The process started with workshops in which children from Genk actively contributed their thoughts and shared their ideas. C-mine and Van Beirendonck collaborated with artist and LUCA School of Arts alumna Emma Ribbens, who supervised the participatory process.

“With PLAYGROUND, Genk is once again showing itself to be a creative and innovative city. We are consciously investing in places where art and play come together. Genk now has a new attraction that draws families and schools from across the region, while also putting our city on the international map,” says Wim Dries, mayor of Genk.