In 1990 Louwrien Wijers realised the symposium at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam – she calls it her “mental sculpture” – 'Art meets Science and Spirituality in a changing Economy'.

During a five-day retreat in 2017, Louwrien Wijers shared the content of 1990 with 21 art people, to determine what is important for our future. She immortalised these quotes in 'Tomorrow's Language', on 40 handwritten panels, which can be seen in the Academy during the Antwerp Art Weekend.

The portrait image is made by Sofie Coreynen (Hallum, 2022)

Otobong Nkanga is collaborating with Nuno Vasconcelos in the frame of the Expanding Acadamy to develop a CARVED TO FLOW temporary lab on soil, earth, and land with students and practitioners from other fields.

Anna Colin and Ève Chabanon share with the students of the Expanding Academy their project A body without plan, which explores how a planted and landscaped environment can be political, resistant, non-binary, and what the feel, look and values of such a garden may be.

Nuno Vasconcelos is collaborating with Otobong Nkanga in the frame of the Expanding Acadamy to develop a CARVED TO FLOW temporary lab on soil, earth, and land with students and practitioners from other fields.

Ève Chabanon and Anna Colin share with the students of the Expanding Academy their project A body without plan, which explores how a planted and landscaped environment can be political, resistant, non-binary and what the feel, look, and values of such a garden may be.

Cooking Sections (Alon Schwabe and Daniel Fernandez), who examines the systems that organise the world through food, shared their artistic long-term project CLIMAVORE in a public lecture in the frame of the Expanding Academy

Sepake Angiama has been in discussion with Nico Dockx, Daniel Blanga Gubbay, Johan Pas, Gabriëlle Schleijpen and Judith Wielander in the frame of the debate Expanding Academy and “practice based learning” in the Arts, October 25, 2021

Founded in 1995, Bless is a conceptional fashion label, born from the collaboration of Desiree Heiss and Ines Kaag. Its creations are a blend of product and clothing design, centred around the philosophy of creating new solutions in the worlds of fashion accessories, design and art, for everyday life. By not imposing any limit to its creativity, Bless demonstrate a deep interest for recycling, misusing, undoing materials as well as using traditional and artisanal techniques.

Gabriëlle Schleijpen, has been in discussion with Sepake Angiama, Nico Dockx, Daniel Blanga Gubbay, Johan Pas, and Judith Wielander in the frame of the debate Expanding Academy and “practice based learning” in the Arts, October 25, 2021

Nico Dockx and Judith Wielander collaborated for the first time in 2001 at Cittadellarte - Pistoletto Foundation in Italy. The dialogue and exchange over the years take now the shape of THE EXPANDING ACADEMY. It’s a school in the school, a pedagogical space extending outside of the classroom- which could also be read as a need to 'expand' beyond the exhibition-based space into situations where and when one is working with contexts as a whole, where to raise social understandings, where to encourage new forms of solidarity and to improve our living conditions.

Daniel Blanga Gubbay, has been in discussion with Sepake Angiama, Nico Dockx, Johan Pas, Gabriëlle Schleijpen and Judith Wielander in the frame of the debate Expanding Academy and “practice based learning” in the Arts, October 25, 2021

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” Jane Jacobs

In the frame of the Expanding Academy, Endeavour, its co-founder Maarten Desmet, and its local space for dialogue Stadsform will facilitate and inspire the dialogue between the Royal Academy of Fine Arts with its neighborhood to co-create a socially innovative form of art integration on the new Stadswaag square.

Pelin Tan is a Turkish sociologist, art historian and artist based in Mardin, Turkey. She is the 6th recipient of Keith Haring Art and Activism, 2020. She is a professor and head of the film department of Batman University. Senior researcher and curator at the Center of Arts, Design and Social Research, Boston/Spoleto. Researcher at the Architecture Faculty of the University of Thesally, Volos (2021 -2026). Tan is a guest curator of MAAT Lisbon in 2022. She collaborates with artist Anton Vidokle on experimental films on art and society; recently they were awarded by the Sharjah art foundation grant for their short film on Gilgamesh (2020).

Seppe Nobels presents the 'Instroom Academie'. A restaurant, a long term project, where he and the asbl Gatam prepare newcomers from all parts of the world for a career in the hospitality and food industry. An intensive project around diversity and inclusion.