A brief history of STUK, Leuven

The arts centre in the Naamsestraat that is proud 'House for Dance, Image and Sound', noe man, has a history of just under half a century.

Everything started in 1977 when the Kultuurraad of Leuven students set up a café with a small theatre room (or was it the other way around?) in the Edward Van Evenstraat. 't Stuc was an offshoot of May 68. The 'student culture centre' would take unexpected and daring paths under the leadership of Guido Minne.

The pub in Van Evenstraat served coffee, but also cake and jazz on Sunday afternoons. What the dirty, hard-working and somewhat chaotic 't STUK, which a few logos later became simply STUK, has seen in those pioneering years, is impressive.

STUK (stuk.be)  gradually found its place in the city: from an organization aimed exclusively at the student audience, the cultural centre grew into a local player that reaches more and more Leuven residents. 

Mayor Louis Tobback cleverly manoeuvred to help the arts centre find the money. In 1996, the foundation stone was laid for the renovation of the Arenberg building (a former chemical laboratory), which opened its doors in January 2002 as STUK.

Nowadays, STUK is the house of dance and art !

Source: "The content of this article has been gathered from the book 'LEUVEN,' authored by Eric Mic and published in 2023."

Photos by Aslı Tezcan