This photo series by Jorge Ochoa is called "I come from far away". Jorge is very interested in immigration and identity, and his works reflect that. Currently there are more than five thousand Peruvian migrants living in Belgium, a large group that Belgians hardly know anything about. In this work he captures how they  have reshaped their cultural practices to start a new life at the other side of the globe. The photographs show how Peruvians -in the search for a new balance- carry out their sports, their religious activities and their practices  in a unique way, shaped by their new environment.

These are the works by Fee Veraghtert. She looks at the pure formal elements in paintings, where colour, form, composition and chance are central. She makes figures that can stand by themselves, totally abstract and without any narrative going on. She does play a lot with the titles of her works, as if to make the abstract figurative. She wants to create a ping pong effect between her works. Does this change how you look at the work of art? Is there a sudden interaction between forms, colours, titles and your interpretation?

This is the animated film ‘Werra’ By Tobias De Win. It is an animated Haiku, in which three stories, about a wolf, a homeless woman and a soldier are told in a parallel narration, observing what it means to be human.

This is anesthesia by Clara Wouters. All day, we’re getting all sorts of breaking news alerts. from pandemics, to femicide or racism. And we can’t seem to live without it. We get a news indigestion, and we start filtering out words. We start getting numb to the most horrible events. That is what Clara did here literally. She made a news paper, and the more you leaf though it, the more numb you get to its stimuli. More and more the news gets filtered down and numbed down, and the anesthesia kicks in.

This is “Zoom”, by Annelotte Lammertse. There are some places in the city that seem to be forgotten. Places that no-one seems to care about, spaces in transition. unforseen mistakes in urban landscapes. People don’t like these places, but for Annelotte, they are a treasure trove: nature’s got free reign here. Plants like Tansy, Saint Jameswort, Yarrow, goldenrod, and sometimes oak or chestnut trees. Those places and plants have an enormous untapped potential, that people underestimate all the time. Annelotte dyes and weaves textiles with these plants, to present the seams of our city, the edges of our civilisation, to us.

This piece of art is made by Eva Maria Bouillon. Eva Maria’s grandmother has a form of OCD called mysophobia or germophobia, in which she has a compulsive fear of dirt or filth. In her youth, she saw how the OCD expressed itself in the actions of her grandmother. Objects would be cleaned a lot and very carefully wrapped in saran wrap or paper towels. Eva Maria made this photo series with the help of her grandmother, to showcase her OCD in its entirety

This is “O”, by Wouter Persyn. The project with which Wouter graduated as a furniture designer was a closet called Gordn. It has an empty space that forms a perfect circle, if you look at it from a certain, perfect angle. Now, you’re probably why I’m talking about a closet while there’s not a closet in sight here? The sculpture, now turning before your eyes is “O”, and that’s in fact the opening out of Gordn. Gordn and O form one unit even though they’ve never been physically together.

While Gordn requires the visitor to walk around the closet, here the O is spinning here, as a tangible void. Like clockwork, a perfect circle arises.

Is this a closet, or is this art? There’s no doubt about it now.

This is the work of Shiyi Zhou. With this work, Shiyi wants us to stand up, to discover how strong our own bodies are, and how it is impossible to act freely. It is an ethereal dance, which wants to bring the audience into a context full of instincts and forces of life. Try not to lose yourself in overanalysing and look at this work from the perspective of your personal life experience.

This is “Vleeshoop”, by Joke De Pever. We see four people, totally at ease with each other. They don’t have to conform to societal ideals, when they’re together: they are who they are, and that’s why they love each other. The intens love relationship between family and friends is what Joke wanted to get across here.

She wants to picture female bodies that are not conventionally sexy, but aren’t repulsive either. Joke thinks their bodies can also just be presented as they are: bodies, without any obligation to please.

Something that is very typical of joke, is that she uses a vast array of materials and textures: look how the face of the girl at the top is painted on another canvas, and then sewed on this painting. Or the girl underneath her, whose face is painted on a box of biscuits. Or, how the clouds are coarse and grotesque, but the girls’ bodies smooth and harmonic.

By the way, just like in the works of other artists, this work of art also features a self portrait of the painter: it’s the girl with the sun glasses. The three other women are two good friends and her sister.

Can you hear that? That’s the beating of a heart. Normally, the heart is the centre of our emotions and convictions. This heart, however, has been drained. There’s nothing in here, and is not yet set in its way. This work of art is an ode to doubt. Doubt is essential in our lives: doubting about what to do, doubting between courage or self-presevration. Running away, or heading towards. This building in itself is built on doubt. This old anatomical theatre is a temple of doubt. Doubting what you believe to be true is the fuel that powers this university. That is why this is an ideal place to house this empty heart.