REVIEW | ‘Universal Tongue’, on dance, at Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) until 4 January 2026

The Museum at the Stream (Museum Aan de Stroom, MAS) in Antwerp is currently celebrating the universal language of dance with ‘Universal Tongue‘, a monumental video installation by Dutch visual artist Anouk Kruithof. Running until 4 January 2026, the exhibition immerses visitors in a dazzling mosaic of dance from across the globe, showing how movement transcends borders as a shared cultural language.

Born in Dordrecht in the Netherlands in 1981, Kruithof has long explored dance as a form of self-expression and empowerment. For this project, she collaborated with 52 researchers to gather 8,800 social media videos representing 1,000 dance styles from all 196 countries. The resulting four-hour installation unfolds across eight synchronised screens, accompanied by an energetic, rhythm-driven soundtrack that fills the gallery space.

“Antwerp dances!” said Alderman for Culture Lien Van de Kelder (Vooruit). “For ten weeks, the MAS will pulse to different rhythms: from tango to Bollywood, from graceful pole dance to ritual Gregorian movement. Come and dance with us. Dance is a universal language that brings people together and moves the hearts of the city.”

Kruithof’s multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, photography, collage, video, books, and social interventions. Her work often probes what she calls “the nerves of our time”, confronting the social, psychological, and ethical questions that shape contemporary life.

Mapping

Alongside the exhibition, ErfgoedLab Antwerpen has used ‘Universal Tongue’ as a starting point for research into digital dance heritage. With dance increasingly shared and developed online, the project examined how virtual platforms are reshaping dance communities.

Researchers mapped Antwerp’s digital dance landscape and spoke with 67 dancers and organisations to understand how they adapt to this new reality. Visitors can hear these voices in the exhibition’s final room, where the findings are presented through interviews and reflections.

To accompany ‘Universal Tongue’, the MAS has launched ten weeks of dance-related activities. In the Kijkdepot (Viewing Depository), eight representatives from Antwerp’s dance scene – Denis Inghelbrecht, Yawar Mistty, De Lá Pra Cá, Serge Medard, De Wevers, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Nina Plantefève and Antonia Volodina – joined curators to select objects from the MAS collection that resonate with their own dance traditions. Each also contributed a personal item they wish to preserve for the future, creating a dialogue between museum heritage and living dance culture.

#MASmoves

Throughout the season, the museum will host four themed #MASmoves evenings featuring workshops, performances and talks on styles ranging from tango and Bollywood to pole dance and dabke. A free open dance floor on the Boulevard offers visitors the chance to move spontaneously to their own rhythm, while families can join themed workshops every second Sunday of the month, combining hip-hop, Bollywood and creative sessions that blend music, movement and design.

From vogueing and twerking to Sufi spinning and even musical chairs, Universal Tongue offers a kaleidoscopic journey through global dance culture. It is an invitation to move, observe and connect—a vivid reminder that dance, in all its forms, remains a living language shared by people everywhere.

A visit

The exhibition is quite empty, barring a few screens. They show dancing people found on social media. Do you remember the Harlem Shake, or the dancing inmates of Malaysia?

Now you will.

The exhibition is unusual but fun to see for a while. Thanh and I stayed quite long, in the end. An our hour or so.