Thomas Verstraeten

Theatre-maker, actor and visual artist Thomas Verstraeten, born 1986 in Belgium, lives and works in Antwerp. He is part of the FC Bergman theatre company, creating plays and operas where the floundering, ever-striving human being takes centre stage that have won national and international acclaim. The productions are characterised by large-scale montages of images and experiments with theatre in vast spaces, featuring groups of extras and integrated video.

Verstraeten also works independently on an art practice that straddles performing arts and visual arts. In his visual practice, Verstraeten spins narratives out of the movements of the city and its inhabitants, their visible and hidden stories and lives. In his videos, installations and often participatory performances, the ordinary is theatralised into the extraordinary. It is not about the creation of fiction, but the transformation and idealisation of time and space. These projects have been presented in the urban public space and in various cultural institutions throughout Europe.