Reflection can be a dry business. That’s why we prepare our talks a little messier with the addition of spice. In preparing the reflection programme for this year’s GIF, we want to propose a tender, juicy, and complimentary offering. Our reflections are therefore tied to key moments of libation and sustenance, whether it be breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a midnight snack. Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast at VIERNULVIER, Lunch, dinner and Wine & Whine at Kunsthal Gent, afternoon tea with Kopergietery in Rabot, the Vertrouwen-evening of Pascal Gielen at CAMPO, and right back to Breakfast Club with Gouvernement. Whatever your palette, there is a reflective offering for you. Smakelijk!
Thursday April 11th GKO-Café: A new role for art houses | Shaping public spaces
Through its tentacles within the broad cultural sector, Gents Kunstenoverleg catches many signals related to pressure on available space and how we deal with (semi-public) space in the city. Organizations have questions about shared use of space, sustainability, what to do after a temporary filling in, who owns a space and how to share their space with nomadic organization.
We invite Jozef Wouters to offer us a different perspective from his art practice and challenge us to work out concrete solutions to these questions in a keynote. Afterwards, we will be happy to discuss this with each other.
18:00h-19:00h Walk-in + food by SimSim
19:00u-20:30u Keynote Jozef Wouters (Dutch)
More info & reservation
Friday April 12th — Tot in de stad! Work in Progress (Kunsthal Gent)
REFLECTION PROGRAM WITH OPEN STUDIOS, DINNER-CONVERSATION, PERFORMANCE, WINE & WHINE
Tot in de stad! is a network of Ghent organizations exchanging knowledge about artistic practices focusing on the social and public space of the city. Twice a year, Tot in de stad! organizes a Work in Progress, highlighting various artistic practices each time. On April 12th, we invite you to open studios, a dinner-conversation, a performance, and a wine & whine session. We will also discuss collaboration around a collective Ghent city festival in 2025.
In cooperation with Manoeuvre, CAMPUSatelier, de Koer, Jong Gewei, Kunsthal Gent, VIERNULVIER, KASK&Conservatorium, and LUCA School of Arts Gent.
More information and tickets and tickets
Saturday April 13th — Playtime (Kopergietery Rabot)
In ‘Playtime,’ we let the youngsters speak for themselves. Together with local partners NTGent and artist Jesse Vandamme, KOPERGIETERY and their studio activities, and Jong Gewei, we present 4 sharp propositions formulated by the youth, about which we reflect and discuss together. Tightly timed, just like playtime.
More information and reservation (free)
Tuesday April 16th — WERKER COLLECTIVE: Study Group AGAINST WORK (SMAK)
Study Group AGAINST WORK aims to delve into the effects of post-industrial work on our bodies, minds, communities, and the biosphere, while envisioning a future without work, as we know it. AGAINST WORK opposes the current exploitative institution of labour and aligns with the abolitionist tradition, which acknowledges work as a (not-only) human activity of self-development for the common good.
More information and reservation (free)
Tuesday April 16th — BREAKFASTCLUB #6 (Campo Boma)
BREAKFASTCLUB is an intimate meeting with an artistic proposal and with each other. During a meeting at an unusual time with a snack and a drink as a binding factor, other ways of sharing, looking and experiencing become possible. Gouvernement’s concept combines artists’ presentation moments with a moderated conversation on the themes evoked by the works on show. In the context of GIF, we are putting together a programme with art science students at UGent on young people and children as artistic partners.
More information and tickets (€5)
Wednesday April 17th — Pascal Gielen ‘Trust’ (Campo Boma)
Culture is the foundation of society. Everything is culture: how we give meaning to our lives, how we interact with each other, how we engage in politics, how we do business, how we deal with the environment. Therefore, culture should be freely shared and created by everyone. After all, culture is originally a collective good. It occupies a third space between market and government, which we call ‘commons’. Pascal Gielen (University of Antwerp) wrote the book Trust about this cultural ‘commons’.
More information and reservation (free)
Friday April 19th — POC POC Manifest — LUNCH TALK AND INTERVENTIONS (Kunsthal Gent)
Lunch talk: POC POC manifest Friday, April 19th, 13:00 – 15:00 The POC POC manifest is a tool that supports artists of color in navigating the art world.
POC POC is the mentorship program by The Constant Now that connects young artists of color with art professionals. Through exhibitions, projects, discussions, and visits, participants gain tools and insights to navigate the art world. The event is an animated live discussion and a show about what happened behind closed doors in preparing the manifest. The audience is invited to be part of the process and conversation.
In collaboration with The Constant Now.
POC POC interventions & performance night
Friday, April 19th, 20:00 – 22:00