Practical
Wednesday, 18 November, 2026
- 20:00 until 22:00
KVS BOL
Lakensestraat 146
1000 Brussels
Lakensestraat 146
1000 Brussels
Get your ticket: €20 (standard), €16 (abo KVS), €15(Jobseekers, people with reduced mobility, teachers, -26-year-olds, +65-year-olds), €8 (students)
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The Vrije Universiteit Brussel and KVS invite you to Mindblowers @ Proximamente.
Through personal stories, artistic projects and academic research, the speakers explore what endures when people are forced to flee, when histories are forgotten, or when certain voices remain unheard.
You will hear about Syrian journalists continuing their work in exile, a woman who was abducted as a baby during the Argentine dictatorship, forms of knowledge that have been pushed to the margins for generations, and artists imagining alternative narratives about the past and the future.
Expect an evening of art, research and personal testimonies in which ghost memories take shape: things that seemed forgotten, yet never truly disappeared.
With contributions by Yazan Badran, Adriana Moreno-Cely, Laura Vandewynckel, Claudix Vanesix, Claudia Poblete. Hosted by Claudia Alba Ortuño (VUB) and Junior Akwety (KVS).
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Speakers
Yazan Badran is a lecturer and researcher at VUB. For Mindblowers, he draws on his research with Syrian journalists living in exile in Istanbul. Their story shows how knowledge, language and journalistic practices continue to exist when people are forced to leave their country. Through his research on media, politics and diasporic communities, he explores who is recognized as a legitimate knowledge holder and how stories, memories and experiences can cross borders without being lost.
Adriana Moreno-Cely is an activist, researcher and lecturer at VUB. During Mindblowers, she presents her lecture-performance PULPO. Using the octopus as a metaphor, she explores how colonial ideas about race, knowledge, progress and development continue to shape our societies today. Through storytelling, personal experience and critical reflection, she examines which forms of knowledge are recognized and which are systematically pushed to the margins.
Laura Vandewynckel is a filmmaker, theatre maker and researcher. During Mindblowers, she draws on her project Let the Sea Take Away All Evil, set on the Brazilian island of Itaparica. Together with local artists and residents, she explores how hopes for change, progress and a better future take shape through stories, rituals and collective imagination. Her work examines how communities respond to social change and how stories help make sense of both the past and the future.
Performances
Claudix Vanesix will share a lecture performance called Xenocene: A Manifesto in Motion.
"Xenocene" challenges human dominance over meaning by juxtaposing human “reality” with the "xenoreality" produced by an AI system. Is the world we perceive the only one that exists? Or merely one perspective among many, entangled in a post-human ontology where non-human intelligences also claim agency?
Claudia Pobletes Claudia is the second show of the trilogy about History and Identity, made by La Conquesta del Pol Sud. Claudia Victoria Poblete Hlaczik lives in Buenos Aires, she works as an IT technician and is passionate about science fiction. Claudia lives a ‘normal’ life but this appearance hides a very particular background. This young woman was educated in the values of the military environment until, when she was 21, she discovered that her real parents were ‘desaparecidos’ and that she lived an invented life. Her case led to an important turning point in Argentina because it meant the beginning of the end of the military leadership’s impunity. Claudia’s life experience, which is communicated by herself on stage, is the primary material this theatrical documentary is based on. What do some individuals’ experiences have to do with us? What is the meaning of words like revolution, memory, and education today?
Hosts
Claudia Alba Ortuño works at the VUB Foundation. Originally from Bolivia, she has conducted research on entrepreneurship in vulnerable communities and is active in theatre as a member of Tramedy. During Mindblowers, she hosts the event and helps connect the different stories, perspectives and conversations throughout the evening.
Junior Akwety is a singer and actor. His music has taken him to all corners of the world. In recent years, he has also made his mark as an actor. He played in KVS performances L'Homme de La Mancha, Drarrie in de nacht, Malcolm X and Who's Tupac (Jr.cE.sA.r). For the latter performance, he brought the inspiration and initiative himself.
About Próximamente Festival
PROXIMAMENTE is a biennial festival and international platform celebrating contemporary performing arts from Latin America and the Caribbean. Bringing together artists, audiences, and cultural partners from both sides of the Atlantic, the festival creates space for bold artistic encounters, exchange, and collaboration. From performances and works in progress to workshops, films, and parties, PROXIMAMENTE invites audiences to discover a vibrant programme where diverse voices meet, challenge, and inspire.
From 17 to 21 November 2026, Próximamente Festival returns to KVS. The 2026 edition unfolds in a world burdened by structural violence, destruction, and the return of old oppression logic in new disguises. Democracy, human rights, ecology and the arts are no longer self-evident, unambiguous concepts, but fragile territories under constant pressure.
The world needs you
This initiative is part of VUB's public programme, a programme for everyone who believes that scientific knowledge, critical thinking and dialogue are an important first step to create impact in the world.
As an Urban Engaged University, VUB aims to be a driver of change in the world. With our academic edcuational programmes and innovative research, we contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and to making a difference locally and globally.
