Crosstalks is a transdisciplinary and intersectoral platform for knowledge exchange between academia and society through lectures, debates, residencies, exhibitions and networking activities. Open knowledge exchange is only valuable when space is created for different frames of reference. This plurality of voices is not only visible in the programs of the Crosstalks events, the projects are also co-designed by researchers and artists, with attention to gender balance and cultural diversity.
With our activities we aim to inspire:
- academic researchers with unexpected encounters beyond their research domain and often in a non-academic context. Crosstalks is a forum to meet stakeholders such as companies, citizens, policy, academia and the environment.
- students by linking the research that is happening at the VUB to broad societal challenges such as ecology, social (in)equality and the super-diverse society.
- the general public with new knowledge by connecting sciences and arts.
“Today we no longer have the right to pretend that we command a unique position from which we can view the truth about the world. We must learn not to judge different areas of knowledge, culture, or art, but to combine them and to establish new ways of coexistence with those who enable us to meet the unique demands of our time.”
Ilya Prigogine & Isabelle Stengers, Order Out of Chaos: Man’s New Dialogue With Nature, 1984
Goedele Nuyttens started working at VUB Crosstalks in 2011. She obtained an MA in Germanic languages at Ghent University before she began working as an editorial assistant at Snoeck Publishers in Ghent, producing art books and exhibition catalogues. She later became commissioning editor at Academic & Scientific Publishers and VUBPress.
Goedele is a member of the board of directors of RoSa and Hiros, and a member of the Surveillance Commission of the Central prison of Leuven. Since 2017 she is also volunteering as a confidante at the VUB.
Ine De Bock studied Art Science and Archaeology (VUB) and Cultural Management (UA). After graduating, she did production and communication work for Savage Film, Courtisane Festival and the Belgian art institute BOZAR. After 4 years in the cultural sector, her experiences opened up to event organization at Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). In 2018 she became communication officer at Crosstalks. Her aim is to translate the open and collaborative approach crucial in every Crosstalks’ initiative towards the network of concerned actors and beyond.
Mahdieh Fahimi was born in Belgium but grew up in Iran. As a young adult, she returned to Belgium and obtained a master's degree in visual arts from LUCA School of Arts in Ghent in 2018. Since then, she has been actively writing and reflecting on film, mainly but certainly not limited to films and creators from the SWANA region. The past year she was one of the voices of AflamNa, our series on women in film with the chair Fatima Mernissi. She’s also one of the people behind Woman Life Freedom Gent that organizes actions in support of the Iranian Woman Life Freedom Revolution. We worked with Mahdieh on the program of a 4-day filmfestival Lost Stories. A Female Gaze on Migration Histories in Brussels in March 2023.
One of the people we regularly work with is Olave Nduwanje. You might now her from her work at Studium Generale Gent or as co-curator of our More-Than-Human Encounters series with Kaaitheater. She works around a broad range of topics: from anti-racism, LGBTQI+ - and disability rights to anti-ecocide and much more. In the spring of 2023 she collaborated with Crosstalks on a talk on minority stress and a discussion on territory and migration.
From February to March 2023, Maria Nkanu Nkanu did an internship at Crosstalks. She is interested in the art and culture sector in connection with her undergraduate studies in Communication from the Erasmus University College in Brussels. Her goal is to give a voice to every person who feels neglected in society by means of communication. In addition to that, Maria also has a great passion for poetry: she writes lyrics, attends Slam Poetry performances and is working on an autobiography for herself. After all, for her, there is no better connection to have than with yourself and the world.
Marleen Wynants founded Crosstalks in 2003. She started her career as a music producer, presenter and content researcher for the official Belgian Radio and Television in its pre-commercial stage. While continuing as a freelance journalist on music, art and gender, she ran the post-punk magazine Fabiola together with Jan Vanroelen, both leaving the scene in 1988, the year Hillel Slovak, Chet Baker, Divine, Sylvester and Roy Orbison died. Wynants continued publishing for major media groups in Belgium amongst which HHD Ogilvy, Grey International, Roularta, De Morgen, De Standaardgroep, Financieel Economische Tijd, De Persgroep and Best of Publishing. She was a contributor to Janus, the magazine launched by Jan Fabre. She is the author of several children books, short stories and a large number of articles and columns on art and on science projects and on the people behind them.
In 2021 she transferred the coordination of Crosstalks to Goedele Nuyttens.