019 connects the means of production and presentation with a focus on experimental artistic forms.
019 is the nineteenth project of Smoke & Dust, an artist collective founded in 2008 by Valentijn Goethals, Tim Bryon and Tomas Lootens. Centered in a 450-square-meter former welding factory in the Old Docks area of Ghent, Belgium, 019 is the largest project of S&D to date. 019 invites a diverse range of local and international artists, graphic designers, composers, collectives, and other creative practitioners to explore the potential inside and around the building.
While urban development projects are changing the appearance and functions in the area of the Old Docks, 019 is an experiment in how architectural interference models this process.
Inside the building, five workplaces are situated around a large project area, in which a large, wooden, rectangular structure divides the space into various zones. Yet because it is modifiable and permeable, it remains open to newly invented uses, even as it influences how the space is used and how audiences may interact.
The city of Ghent and SO Gent lease-lend the building for a period of five years to S&D vzw. S&D vzw is an independent not-for-profit organisation and is not structurally funded.