When talking to newcomers who had migrated to Europe via the Balkan Route, artist Akira Takayama became interested in the fact that – thanks to free Wi-Fi and phone charging possibilities as well as access to toilets – McDonald’s were seen as meeting points and places where information about the journey could be shared. This inspired him to develop McDonald’s Radio University, a project in which Takayama fulfi ls the utopian plan for a decentralized and mobile university, once designed by British architect Cedric Price. He temporarily transforms several branches of McDonald’s restaurants into lecture halls, creating a new university in the city. Takayama uses these plans to develop a model that passes on knowledge and enables training for people whose knowledge is not recognized in society (newcomers, people in precarious jobs, the homeless, etc.). In a ten-day lecture series, “professors” deepen and expand the traditional academic canon of knowledge by drawing on their own life experiences and research interests. You are welcome every day at 5 p.m. in McDonald’s on Place de la Bourse / Beursplein for a live lecture by one of these professors. The recorded lectures are available at any other time and can be combined with a hamburger and Coke.
 

Live lecture at

McDonald’s in Beurs / Bourse,

Every day at 17:00

24/24h recorded lectures available at

McDonald’s Beurs / Bourse, Nieuwstraat / Rue Neuve & Naamsepoort / Porte de Namur

See also: Artist talk

McDonald's Radio University is a project that was supported by the Friends in 2020.

Confronted with the SARS-CoV-2 crisis, we had to cancel this project