Practical
Tuesday, 31 March, 2026
- 18:00 until 20:00
VUB Main Campus Etterbeek
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Elsene
Learning and Innovation Centre (LIC) - Room 0.04 Learning Theatre
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Elsene
Learning and Innovation Centre (LIC) - Room 0.04 Learning Theatre
Free of charge
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to join the lecture 'Art effects: sensory education in uncertain times' by prof. Premesh Lalu as part of the Ties That Bind Us series and the Pauwels Academy of Critical Thinking.
In this lecture, South African professor Premesh Lalu explores how art can help us rethink what it means to live together in a world marked by uncertainty and inequality. He speaks about the ties that connect people, but also about the moments when those ties may need to be loosened to make space for something new.
Lalu will integrate insights from The Herds, a groundbreaking public art and climate initiative designed to inspire action and renew our bond with the natural world. From April to August 2025, life-size puppet animals stormed through city centers on a 20,000km journey from Kinshasa in the Congo Basin to Nordkapp in the Arctic Circle, fleeing climate disaster. In doing so, the project brought together the worlds of arts and science in an urgent call for climate action.
About Premesh Lalu
Professor Premesh Lalu is a leading researcher and writer on South African history, post-apartheid studies and arts education. He teaches at the University of the Western Cape, the VUB’s partner university in South Africa, where he founded the Centre for Humanities Research (CHR).
Lalu publishes both in international academic journals and in newspapers and online platforms. His books, including Undoing Apartheid (2022), explore themes such as freedom, solidarity and aesthetic education. He is also active in cultural and educational institutions, including the District Six Museum and the Handspring Trust for Puppetry in Education in South Africa. Lalu regularly gives lectures around the world.
This event is made possible thanks to a legacy gift from Ernesta Jansen to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
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Read more
Art as a protest and pedagogy: the puppetry of Ukwanda
This event is part of the Ties That Bind Us series.
About Ties That Bind Us: transcultural perspectives on social forms
A cross-disciplinary series organised at the Faculty of Languages and Humanities for VUB’s Public Programme
The impact of global and geopolitical crises on European societies is widely felt. Common reactions to these are a growing societal divide and a rise in anti-democratic positions. The public imaginary is rife with a rhetoric dominated by the erection of walls, the demarcation of territory and claims of ownership. Crushed between polarised camps are vulnerable members of our societies – and thus humanity itself. Individuals with their complex identities are categorised into groups whose belonging, right to existence even, is called into question. Understanding the realities of diversity and change as given, the series “Ties that Bind Us” seeks to create a platform for a wide range of perspectives, life experiences and cultures of knowledge about forms of kinship, solidarity and conviviality – or, in other words, a counter-imaginary space to an increasingly widespread, yet dangerously reductive binary thinking.
This event is part of PACT
The world needs you
This initiative is part of the Pauwels Academy of Critical Thinking (PACT), a lecture programme for everyone who believes that 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.
