From 3 June to 22 September, La Monnaie and Muntpunt are transforming Rue Royale—the small street between their buildings—into a vibrant summer spot. A long table will serve as a welcoming meeting place where locals and passers-by can read, have lunch, play board games, or simply soak up the sun.
With the project Op Tafel, à Table, under the Table, the two institutions are joining forces to offer a fresh take on the public space around Place de la Monnaie. They are working with Meow Collective, an architecture firm that designs playful, inclusive spaces celebrating the social side of life. The tables—made from reused stage elements and covered in fabrics from old costumes and sets from La Monnaie’s workshops—symbolise connection and dialogue. They form a friendly setting for spontaneous gatherings, musical moments, and a wide range of events: from debates about public space in Brussels and Silent Reading Sessions to open mics, catwalk runs, and reading and drawing sessions for children.
On 21 June—which marks the first day of summer, Fête de la Musique and International Yoga Day this year —the table and the area around Place de la Monnaie will be buzzing with activity. At 11:30 a.m., you can take part in a free yoga session set to classical music, enjoy a picnic lunch accompanied by a clapping session set to Carmen, and from 4 p.m. on, rediscover the greatest hits from this opera classic during free concerts by La Monnaie’s Brass Ensemble, MM Laureate Raphaëlle Green, and the Cassandra Choir.
The table will also take centre stage during the festive opening weekend of our opera house on 20 and 21 September. With another clapping session—this time to music from Verdi’s Falstaff—and plenty of other activities, we’ll bid farewell to the table, and to summer, together.
As part of the worldwide Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the façade of La Monnaie was lit up in pink on Sunday, 19 October. Through this symbolic gesture, our house aims to highlight what is still insufficiently known about the disease.
During a literary encounter with J. M. Coetzee on the stage of La Monnaie, Christina Scheppelmann announced that the 2003 Nobel Prize winner in Literature is writing a libretto for a new La Monnaie opera, to be premiered in the 2027–2028 season: Elizabeth Costello in limbo.
Christina Scheppelmann, who became the first female General and Artistic Director of La Monnaie this season, has been nominated for the ELLE Woman of the Year 2025 award.
