Pôle de mutualisation

Located in Manage, in the province of Hainaut, the Pôle de mutualisation de services & ressources techniques is a collective and sustainable tool dedicated to pooling technical resources for the performing arts. Initiated by the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, it provides an open space for artists, companies and performing arts organisations in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, offering facilities for set construction, storage and professional training.

A shared need to transform practices

How did the project come about?
Making theatre, dance and live performance involves building sets, imagining spaces, and working with materials that require budgets, expertise, experience and risk-taking. Yet this creative abundance is still too often accompanied by waste and sets with very short lifespans. Recycling and reuse practices are gradually emerging, initiating a transition that the Hub aims to strengthen. The project responds to a collective ambition: pooling technical resources to better support and enhance artistic creation. It provides an operational solution that benefits artists and performing arts professionals, as there is a shared need to find new ways of addressing these economic, social and environmental challenges together.

A shared tool for performing arts professionals

How can this technical and sustainable ambition be put into practice?
The Pôle is conceived as an innovative space, a true laboratory for both technical and artistic experimentation. It is a professional tool designed to meet the needs of its partners: set storage and construction, sourcing of scenographic elements, sharing and cataloguing of expertise, and training aligned with technological developments. Its founding principle of pooling resources is simple: every set, object or resource funded, designed or acquired by one partner can be used by others, enabling economies of scale and more efficient use of resources.

The Pôle is based in Manage, in a strategically located central area connected to Brussels, Wallonia, Hainaut and neighbouring municipalities. Housed in large modern buildings on a rehabilitated industrial site, it offers functional spaces adapted to the performing arts — theatre, dance, circus — ready to welcome those who imagine, build and use sets: artists, companies, set designers, craftspeople and technicians.

Weaving an autonomous network in service of the collective

What vision guides the development of the Hub?
The Pôle is designed with the sector, for the sector. It embodies a shared ambition: to create a space optimised for the performing arts professions. Its development has been shaped by the vision of around fifteen professionals gathered in a steering committee — technical directors from companies and theatres, alongside architect Olivier Bastin.

The Pôle de mutualisation is intended to grow and evolve through a decentralised model, driven by the dynamics and initiatives of its contributors. Its governance will be based on a participatory structure, representative of all project partners. The ambition is clear: to co-build the development of the Hub in close connection with the realities of all its members.

Designed with the support of regional public authorities and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Pôle ultimately aims for a balanced distribution of funding sources. It will also be able to reach out to other cultural sectors or private partners in order to generate its own income, for example by hosting film projects, event production, cross-border initiatives with France, or European networks.

Three operational missions for pooling resources

From principle to action, what does the Pôle offer?
Store, enhance
The Pôle includes a storage platform for touring productions and a resource centre for set elements with strong potential for reuse. The warehouse covers nearly 2,000 m² of industrial racking equipped with a mechanised handling system, allowing scenographic elements to be stored in the best possible conditions.

Build, invent
The workshops integrate eco-design and eco-construction into scenography production, with sets designed from the outset to be reused and recycled. The site includes a unloading area, separate wood and metal workshops, a large stage for full set assembly and technical-artistic experimentation, as well as service areas — meeting rooms, offices and sanitary facilities. Together, these spaces provide an optimal working environment aligned with sector needs.

Train, transmit
Adjacent to the warehouses, two 200 m² studios can host training sessions. One open area is dedicated to theoretical and practical workshops specific to performing arts professions — costumes, lighting, motorisation, props — alongside rooms with offices, plan printing facilities, meeting rooms and shared spaces.

An open Hub welcoming all energies in the sector

How can you take part in practice?
Every organisation is invited to join the project, regardless of size, status or artistic field. Designed to grow and evolve through collaboration, the Hub exists through the participation of its partners. The aim is to move away from purely competitive practices so that each partner contributes at their own level and benefits from the advantages of pooling resources. This approach ensures fair conditions for all.

Contributing means:

• Renting storage space;
• Providing tools, materials, vehicles or logistical resources;
• Contributing to set construction to reduce labour costs;
• Sharing expertise;
• Leading training sessions or facilitating occasional workshops;
• …

Benefiting means:

• Accessing free resources;
• Storing scenographies in safe and long-term conditions;
• Producing scenographies with highly skilled craftspeople;
• Taking part in training programmes;
• Borrowing scenographic systems at lower cost;
• …

Participating means:

• Taking part in the management board responsible for evaluating and adjusting working methods;
• Helping to secure funding and partnerships;
• …

Information & contact

Le Pôle de mutualisation
Rue Jean Perrin 5a
7170 Manage
info@pole-mutualisation.be

To find out more: 
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