What's on this week: 18 March

Composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky put Russia on the musical map in the 19th century and, in the process, created some of the most enduring works in the entire classical songbook. The National Orchestra of Belgium, its Russian-born musical director Andrey Boreyko and guest Ukrainian-Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman (pictured) pay tribute with a four-day festival spanning two countries and featuring Tchaikovsky’s famous Sixth Symphony. There’s an evening show on Friday and a matinee on Sunday afternoon. In between, on Saturday, the orchestra plays a one-night stand at CC Hasselt.
20-22 March at Bozar, Brussels
www.bozar.be

The annual Millenium festival has been shining a spotlight on politically engaged documentaries from around the world since 2009. At the top of the marquee this year is The Yes Men Are Revolting (pictured), which follows the eponymous American activists-cum-pranksters in their quest to publicly shame the corporate world into environmental action. Other activities include master classes, conferences, a cycle of Latvian films and a retrospective programme devoted to Israeli dissident Amos Gitai. A veteran filmmaker and former IDF conscript, Gitai’s ambivalent treatment of Israel’s history has earned him plaudits abroad and hostility at home.
20-28 March across Brussels
www.festivalmillenium.org

Brussels’ biggest fine art and antiques fair attracts dealers from more than 100 Belgian and international galleries for a fortnight of browsing and buying. It’s a collector’s dream, with pieces from East to West and from antiquity to the modern period. This year’s theme – the portrait – is appropriately universal. Each culture and each historical era has its own style of representing the human face and so each portrait is a kind of sociological Rosetta Stone, revealing fundamental philosophical attitudes. Eurantica observes the theme with an exhibition of contemporary portraits by Brussels-based photographer Anne-Catherine Chevalier.
20-29 March at Brussels Expo
www.eurantica.be

Vicente Amigo: The Flamenco guitar master, who learned his fast finger style from El Tomate and Manolo Sanlucar, promotes his latest album, Tierra, with cajón, voice and guitar accompaniment. 21 March 20.15, Flagey, Heilig Kruisplein, Brussels
www.flagey.be
Savina Yannatou: The Greek singer and her band, Primavera en Salonico, perform songs from early 20th-century Thessaloniki, which reflect the city’s melting pot of ethnicities. 24 March 20.15, Handelsbeurs, Kouter 29, Ghent
www.handelsbeurs.be
Shelter: Classical meets pop in this oratorio about the various meanings of the word “shelter”, with a score written for the voices of Oslo’s Trio Mediaeval and set to a film by New York director Bill Morrison. 24 March 20.00, De Bijloke, Jozef Kluyskensstraat 2, Ghent
www.debijloke.be
It’s a kind of magic: The final two parts of an exhibition in six acts, featuring American Ryan Rivadeneyra (19 March) and Belgians Sarah & Charles (25 March), artists invited to turn the stage into a magical arena by inviting the public into their creative space. 19 & 25 March 20.00, Het Paviljoen, Louis Pasteurlaan 2, Ghent
www.paviljoen.org
Julia Margaret Cameron: One of the most innovative photographers of the 19th century, best known for her powerful portraits of friends, relatives and servants and for her unconventional approach. Until 14 June, Museum of Fine Arts, Fernand Scribedreef 1, Ghent
www.mskgent.be
Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez on being focused: Professor of strategy and author of the book The Focused Organization, Nieto-Rodriguez shares his insights into how we can waste less time and create more focused organisations (in English). 19 March 19.30-23.00, Full Circle, Brussels
www.fullcircle.eu