NUMMER18 is the art house that photographer Renaat Nijs and brand & content strategist Raïsa Moureau have run since May 2025 in the townhouse at Martelarenlaan 18 in Hasselt. The building housed three generations of artists and was left almost untouched when they took it over in 2024.

Painter Jos Damien (1879–1973) settled on Martelarenlaan in 1911, painted members of the Belgian royal family there among others, and worked there until his move to Brussels in 1942. He built the studio himself: a balustrade for viewing paintings from a distance, a dressing room for sitters, a painted peacock by the coal stove.[^1][^7] In 1981 sculptor Hub Baerten took over the building; he lived there with sports journalist Annemie Sneyers, ran life-drawing sessions and briefly operated galerie XVIII.[^1] When they took the property over in 2024, Renaat and Raïsa left the studio almost unchanged — no computers, “keeping the craft character intact”.[^1]

NUMMER18 officially opened on Thursday 8 May 2025, during Hasselt’s Kunstennacht, with the group show Three Generations in One House — work by Damien, Baerten and Nijs side by side.[^2] The programme combines photography, sculpture, painting and design with social debate. In October 2025 Raïsa co-curated THE 1% — work by Souâd Feriani, Eline Rodiers and Renaat Nijs, built around the fact that only one per cent of global innovation focuses on women.[^3] In June 2026 NUMMER18 shows Fragments of a Process by Rayah Wauters, Belgian finalist of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2026 — announced by the gallery as her first solo exhibition.[^4] At least seven exhibitions are scheduled for 2026.[^5] NUMMER18 has been included in Visit Hasselt’s official gallery list since 2025.[^6]

Admission is free. NUMMER18 is open on Fridays from 4 to 9 pm and occasionally on Sundays.[^2]

Sources

[^1]: Het Nieuwsblad, 7 May 2025 (Christof Rutten) — “Prachtig atelier van drie generaties kunstenaars gaat na 15 jaar nog eens open tijdens Kunstennacht”.
[^2]: UiT in Hasselt, 24 April 2025 — “Atelier Jos Damien na 15 jaar nog eens te bezichtigen op Kunstennacht” / “Fotograaf Renaat Nijs opent nieuw kunsthuis Nummer18”.
[^3]: katrienvandecruys.com/exhibitions/theoneprocent; LinkedIn announcement Kristel Vanderlinden, October 2025 (post activity 7379453484636512258).
[^4]: Knack Weekend — “Rayah Wauters Belgische finalist Loewe” (weekend.knack.be/lifestyle/design/rayah-wauters-belgische-finalist-loewe).
[^5]: LinkedIn Raïsa Moureau, spring 2026 — own post about “the first of seven [exhibitions] this year”.
[^6]: visit.hasselt.be/nl/blog/kunstgalerijen-in-hasselt — “Kunstgalerijen in Hasselt”.
[^7]: Hasel.be — “Damien, Jos (1879-1973)” (birth/death, settled on Martelarenlaan in 1911, moved to Brussels in 1942, court painter from the 1930s in Laeken and Luxembourg).