Velvet Room

About Velvet Room Ghent

Velvet Room is an art space located somewhere between consciousness and subconsciousness—a liminal zone where creation and contemplation coexist. Tucked inside a worn, corner house in the heart of Ghent, this eclectic refuge is far removed from everyday reality. It serves as an art gallery, underground cinema, video/photo studio, event location, and co-working space—a sanctuary for film and theatre professionals, visual artists, and wandering minds alike.

Over the years, Velvet Room has welcomed an impressive constellation of guests, including Lars von Trier, Koen Mortier, Koen De Bouw, Michael Pas, Nic Balthazar, Peter Monsaert, Wannes Destoop, Kadir Balci, Anders Refn, Kris Dewitte, Tom Bessoir, Michael William West, and many more.

Velvet Room also curates and protects a rare and important collection of over 180 original works by Ivorian visionary artist Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, anchoring the space further in the currents of outsider art and cultural preservation.

But more than a list of functions or names, Velvet Room is an atmosphere—a pulse.

Imagine stepping inside: dim lighting, crimson glows, brutal and poetic art placed with ritualistic care. Behind an imposing iron door, the city becomes a murmur. A spiral of spaces unfolds: from an industrial gallery that houses, among other things, a life-sized submarine (yes, really), to a gothic bar run by an innocent-looking non-binary being offering destructive goodies, to a shadowy cinema with room for 26 lost souls and their shared silence.

Books spill from shelves, obscure poetry begs to be read. A club chair faces the wall. Someone sits in it, reading. They want to be alone - together.

Here, you’ll find calm not in stillness, but in acceptance. In contrast. In creation.

Velvet Room is a place to grow. To get lost. To nest.