Practical
Saturday, 17 October, 2026
- 15:30 until 17:00
Wiels
Van Volxemlaan 354
1190 Vorst
Van Volxemlaan 354
1190 Vorst
Admission is included in the Shifting Worlds exhibition ticket: € 16.90 (regular), €9.90 (students & -18y)
Robots are becoming increasingly present in our lives. Many are built to outperform the human body – moving with a speed, strength or repeatability we cannot always match. Soft robots and mechanical puppets trade that precision for a softness allowing them to interact safely with us. Through that softness, they also reveal a fragility that makes them mirrors for our own bodies. What remains human when machines begin to share our vulnerability?
Join robotics professor Bram Vanderborght (VUB & imec), choreographer Ugo Dehaes (kwaad bloed) and artistic researcher Laura Vandewynckel for a conversation about how robots are changing the way we think about our bodies, our limits and what it means to be human.
The talk is preceded by a try-out of Soft Tissue, Ugo Dehaes’ new performance in which soft robots move, search and fail. What happens when a machine no longer appears efficient and powerful, but fragile, uncertain and in need of attention?
Speakers
Ugo Dehaes started dancing at the age of eighteen and trained at PARTS, the renowned dance school founded by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. After working with Meg Stuart’s company Damaged Goods, he co-founded the company kwaad bloed with Charlotte Vanden Eynde in 2000. Since 2018, he has increasingly explored the intersection of choreography and technology, learning to build and choreograph robots. Alongside several installations, he created the internationally acclaimed productions Simple Machines and Moving Skin.
Laura Vandewynckel is an artist, filmmaker and researcher working across animation, theatre and performance. Her work explores collective imagination, participation, technology and social change. She teaches at RITCS School of Arts and is currently completing a PhD on automata as activist tools.
Bram Vanderborght is Professor of Robotics at VUB and a principal investigator at imec. His research focuses on safe human-robot interaction, self-healing materials and adaptive actuators. He coordinates several European research projects on self-healing soft robots, bringing together new materials, robot design and circular manufacturing. His work explores applications in healthcare, rehabilitation and industrial robotics, with a strong focus on sustainability and repairability.
Sandy Snoeck is a moderator, keynote speaker and lecturer with a strong interest in sustainability, innovation and impact-driven entrepreneurship. Alongside running her own company, she teaches in the Idea & Innovation Management programme at Howest. This combination of entrepreneurship and education keeps her closely connected to technological developments and emerging innovations.
About Shifting Worlds
From 16 to 20 October 2026, FTI Brussels takes over WIELS with Shifting Worlds, an exhibition and festival programme bringing together artists, designers, scientists and thinkers who explore how technology shapes the world around us.
For five days, visitors can discover exhibitions, performances, talks and workshops that reflect on the cities and societies of tomorrow. Through artistic installations, speculative projects and research, Shifting Worlds invites audiences to think critically about the role technology can, and cannot, play in creating meaningful change.
Find the full programme on the website of FTI.
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.