BRUSK, a newly inaugurated art center in the historic heart of Bruges, presents its summer exhibition "Vision large" (running until September 6, 2026). The show explores Bruges' pivotal role in the development of international trade and cultural networks from 900 to 1550, positioning the city as an early laboratory of globalization. Curated by British historian Peter Frankopan, author of *The Silk Roads*, the exhibition features 250 objects including illuminated manuscripts, precious artworks, and major loans such as Gentile Bellini's *Portrait of Mehmed II* (1480) from the National Gallery and the 1154 *Tabula Rogeriana* by Muhammad al-Idrisi.
The exhibition matters because it reframes Bruges not merely as a picturesque tourist destination but as a crucial crossroads of medieval global exchange, where goods, ideas, and art circulated between Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, and the Americas. By highlighting the city's strategic canals and commercial networks, "Vision large" offers a timely perspective on the roots of globalization, connecting historical trade routes to contemporary cultural interconnectedness. It also establishes BRUSK as a significant new venue for ambitious, historically grounded art presentations in Belgium.