Hall M

Meet the writer: Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh is an Indian writer best known for his bestselling novels, but his non-fiction work also makes him an important voice in today’s climate justice movement. In The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016) he explores how the climate crisis has affected every aspect of human existence. Ghosh calls to action to take responsibility and restore the earth for the coming generations. In The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis (2021), Ghosh argues that the dynamics of climate change today are rooted in the geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism.

Amitav Ghosh has received numerous literary awards and four honorary doctorates. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages and his essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic and The New York Times. In 2019 Foreign Policy Magazine named him one of the most important global thinkers of the past decade.

Interview: Gie Goris

Broelkaai 6 & Budascoop

Roman Krznaric & Frank Keizer

What can be learned from 3000 years of human history so we can tackle the emergencies of the 21^st century – from climate change, water scarcity to the threats of AI or synthetic biology? How to design a future that can be shared while being multivocal?

Roman Krznaric is a British-Australian cultural historian and philosopher, founding faculty member of The School of Life, London. Before, he taught at various prominent British universities, was a gardener and worked in human rights programmes in Central America. He also set up the world’s first Empathy Museum and is the author of The Good Ancestor, a book that deals with the world we will be leaving to future generations.

Multiple Stories Work!

What will be the future of work? Will it be different from now? What views can help us find an answer? Are researchers, writers and artists able to enhance our imagination and to offer new ways of co-operation?

Time to Talk… (about work?)

A living library in collaboration with REfu Interim, Antigone & Unie der Zorgelozen. Borrow a person for a one-to-one talk. Stories of newcomers for managers and vice versa, stories of ‘young’ Belgians for ‘old’ Belgians and vice versa, knowledge about and from elsewhere and yesteryear … about work and trade and everything around.

Closing performance ― Sébastien Hendrickx: performance Moddertong

Story theatre in Flemish, laced with other languages. There are loose links with the conceptual triangle of ‘mother’, ‘language’ and ‘earth’. Together with the audience, a storyteller is seated around a heap of stuff. The light will be changing; some objects will be moving; footnotes will run away from the text. What routes are there to escape from the home country towards Mother Earth? Will we have to teach ourselves new languages? What will we have to unlearn? What may everyday life look like in the near future? Moddertong attempts at connecting words and objects, audience and storyteller, people and the land on which they stand.

Walks & workshop

Walks and workshops are included in the Ecopolis ticket. However, reservation is necessary. Secure your spot by registering here.

Minority walk with Omar Fassi Fehri (EN)

The Minority Walk is a tour of the center of Brussels to discover the public space of the capital, told through the lens of how the oppression of various minority groups is still taking place, in different ways, representations, mechanisms and images. It’s around a two-hour stroll, with various stops (some famous and some curious…), with the aim to engage debate, raise consciousness, question our privileges and/or situations of discrimination, experiment, and share.

The Brussels of witches: feminist guided walk (EN)

In the 14th century, as we move out of the ‘dark’ Middle Ages and into the Modern Age and the Renaissance, women are plunged into darkness – or rather into the flames of the stake. How were women’s skills and knowledge transformed into acts of witchcraft? How did the living conditions of free women change? What female figures reveal other possible worlds? What does our urban public space reveal about that time… and about witches today? Find out in this guided walk by art historian Chiara Tomalino from L’architecture qui dégenre.

L’architecture qui dégenre, a platform founded in 2018 by Apolline Vranken, is the initiator of the Belgian edition of the Journées de Matrimoine. The non-profit organization organizes and realizes guided tours, training, lectures and animations on the themes of gender, the city, architecture, history, art and culture in general.

Two Homes, One Guide (walk) (in Dutch)

Our intercultural guides of Twee (t)huizen, één gids (Two Homes – One Guide) will make you discover Brussels in a most unusual way. They do not focus on history but on how they themselves experience the city. They will show you neighbourhoods that matter to them while also talking about their countries of origin.

Tatyana moved from Ukraine to Belgium some 22 years ago and at once fell in love with Brussels because of its rich and omnipresent history, culture and vibrancy. The walk starts at Saint Catherine’s Church and Tatyana will take you along the former canal showing you her favourite spots. The walk ends with a tour of KVS theatre, for which she has a personal preference. A drink at KVS Café Congo will be the perfect conclusion to you walk.

This walk is organized by FDMO (Federation of global and democratic organisations) 

Workshop ‘Limits to Growth’ (NL/EN)

Floods, forest fires, melting glaciers, etc.: we are increasingly faced with natural disasters. The consequences are disastrous and indisputable: we are exceeding the limits of our planet. To keep our planet livable, we urgently need to rethink our way of living. In this workshop we will encounter inspiring voices from Latin America (in line with the ‘Buen Vivir’ philosophy) who show that another way of life is possible. A life in which ‘well-being’ is central instead of ‘growth’. In the workshop, we will look together for ways in which we can live with fewer non-renewable resources, with the aim of taking a critical look at our consumer society and actively considering alternative models of society. We will also look into the ‘Right to say No’ and the ‘Right to Repair’ movements.
In collaboration with Catapa and Right to Repair Europe, celebrating International Repair Day on October 15th.

Panel discussions and performance

Colonialisation as exploitation of people and nature

Colonialisation is more than a system of dominance over a population and territory. ‘Coloniality’ as a conceptual framework makes a single system of thought exclusive : western man dominating nature and other population groups. This erased other ways of being and connectedness with the more-than-human-world. What is called ‘development’ today, is often a continuation of the colonial process of appropriation and suppression of land, nature and people.

In this panel discussion, writers and artists from various backgrounds will discuss what this means and will focus on the many narratives that survived colonialism while offering alternatives. They will also touch upon the meaning(s) of’decolonialisation’.

With: Dalilla Hermans, Bayo Akomolafe, Jumana Emil Abboud, Mihnea Tănăsescu and Olave Nduwanje (moderator)

Different jobs, one planet. Stories of strong commitment

Whatever your studies, whatever your job, there are always plenty of opportunities for strong commitment to creating a better world. An architect need not only design houses but may also promote a more feminine approach to urban life. A lawyer may lead the way in the fight against chemical pollution of the environment. And what about a financial analyst’s call for blowing up the banks? Or a weathercaster engaged in climate action?

On the panel:  Apolline Vranken, Jérémy Désir-Weber, Thomas Goorden and Caroline Van Peteghem (moderator)

Conclusion by Eric Corijn in a brief key-note.

TANK TINK / ONE: The environmental impact of war (premiere)

War turns gigantic areas into inhospitable no-go zones. Its impact on humans as well as on nature and biodiversity is dramatic. Ecopolis will feature playwrights and performers Enkidu Khaled and Joachim Robbrecht in the premiere of their play on the impact of war on the environment. Along with artists, journalists and activists from different corners of the world, they examine the relationship between warfare and environmental crises in a hybrid and polyphonic lecture-performance.

With: Sara Dziri, Anika Schwarzlose, Ogutu Muraya, Caroline Ngorobi, Chris Keulemans, Brian McKenna.