During this evening, we will explore how human personhood has been constructed, and how it can be decentered and made to expand into different ways of seeing and being. The rational, universal individual has violently suppressed mutable persons existing at the intersection of multiple beings, as well as collective and interspecies ways of building knowledge that persist in the sciences, though often unrecognized. Underneath the steamroller of modernity, we will discover many possibilities for a more convivial future.

During this evening we will focus on tendrilesque writing. What happens to human speech if vines enter our flesh, roots crawl through our veins, and we turn into hybrid plant monsters? What happens if we let plants speak through us and what kind of new language, new bits of knowledge and new worlds can emerge from there? We will explore these topics while focusing on the status of women, and their relation to plants, as presented in works of fiction in which the distinction between women and plants becomes blurry.

Gender quota have been introduced in politics in many European countries. But are quota sufficient to create gender equality? The political agenda, communication and staff are not aligned with a broad swathe of women and their ideological and intersectional diversity. This leads to a lack of trust and legitimacy, and unstable relationships between groups of women and their political institutions and politicians. In times of crisis, the informal social relationships of white men continue to have the upper hand.

Paying tribute to the Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi, Iman Humaydan and Rosa Yassin Hassan will read from their own work and talk about their authorship against the background of revolution, censorship, and their shifting social positions.

WORKING TITLE FESTIVAL — Kasper Vandenberghe climbs on a scaffolding clad in a protective suit and then drops down like a rock. It is calculated recklessness. It is a poetic search for how vulnerable we can still allow ourselves to be and how we can understand vulnerability as a force. It is dancing on the loose rope between two deeply human desires: the desire for balance versus a bottomless leap into the unknown.

According to Dutch philosopher Thijs Lijster, in today’s complex world, we increasingly think of society as an ‘outside world’. Against the idea that history is something which happens to us, he champions the collective ability to make history.

This afternoon focuses on Syrian theatre and on the work of a young generation of contemporary playwrights.

In her debut Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, author, journalist, and human rights activist Afua Hirsch has written a subtle personal history that also sketches the history of a country. Who can and may appropriate British identity?

In Authenticity and Spirituality, Elke Van Campenhout/Elle will speak about authenticity and our constant need to be unique, original, and connected to ourselves. Meandering through spiritual pragmatism, contemporary philosophy, and artistic discourse, she will rethink the boundaries of the authentic. 

Financial explorer Brett Scott and artist Paolo Cirio will take you through the subversive and fun field of financial art, hacking and activism, describing their own work as well as showcasing examples from across the globe. Get inspired to launch your own adventure into the financial sector!