The 2025 AFIELD Forum: Transitional Justice by Artists is a project by AFIELD co-produced with KANAL-Centre Pompidou and Kunstenfestivaldesarts with support from the Terra Foundation for American Art. Held from 27 to 30 May, 2025, in Brussels, the second edition of the AFIELD Forum centers on innovative solutions by artists that help to advance the mechanisms of transitional justice. 

'Transitional justice' refers to the legal and institutional processes employed to address widespread human rights violations committed during conflicts or under repressive regimes. Centered on the needs and aspirations of victims, it encompasses judicial and non-judicial measures, including prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations programs, and institutional reforms. Artists have played a pivotal role in advancing reparations and policy change, developing essential tools for seeking justice and addressing the lasting impact of atrocities on individuals and societies. Through artistic interventions, they foster dialogue, amplify marginalized voices and shape public discourse, ultimately influencing institutional frameworks and policies that contribute to long-term justice and societal transformation.

The programme will encompass ‘schools’, participant-led workshops, walks, performances, panels and keynotes open to the public. 

This year components of the AFIELD Forum are co-curated within the framework of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts' Free School – The School of Fireflies. The shared programme advocates for the reimagination of the role of art as a catalyst for justice, care, and collective resistance and underscores the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration to illuminate the intersections of creativity, memory, and healing, beyond the art world. 

You can register to the AFIELD Forum on AFIELD’s website. The activities organised in the context of the Free School must be booked seperately on our website (from 9 April 2025).

Programme at Beursschouwburg

Wednesday 28.05

10:00 – 13:00
Free School: Living School
Workshop with Selvagem (PT/FR)

10:00 – 13:00
Free School: Archiving as a Tool
Workshop with Archivo de la Memoria Trans (ES/EN)

18:00 –19:30
Keynote
Archivo Memoria de la Trans & Jack Halberstam (ES/EN)

Thursday 29.05

10:00 – 13:00
Free School: Living School
Workshop with Selvagem (PT/FR)

10:00 – 13:00
Free School: Archiving as a Tool
Workshop with Archivo de la Memoria Trans (ES/EN)

14:00 – 15:30
Panel: Archives
Ukraine War Archive, First Waves, Archivo de la Memoria Trans (EN) 

18:00 – 19:30
Keynote
Elizabeth Povinelli & Federico Campagna (EN)

20:00 – 21:00
Dance: Lia Rodrigues, Borda at Théâtre National

Friday 30.05

10:00 – 13:00
Free School: Living School
Workshop with Selvagem (PT/FR)

10:00 – 13:00
Free School: Archiving as a Tool
Workshop with Archivo de la Memoria Trans (ES/EN)

18:00 – 19:30
Keynote
Lia Rodrigues & Selvagem (PT/FR)

21:00 – 22:30
Theatre: Faustus in Africa! by William Kentridge at KVS BOL

Confirmed speakers and presenters include:

Pio Abad, Archivo de la Memoria Trans, Alejandra Ballón Gutiérrez, Rosemarie Buikema, Manuel Correa, First Waves, Jail Time Records, Joseph Kaifala, Jesse Krimes, François Makanga, Hannah Meszaros Martin, Justine Jaz Okolodkoff, Elizabeth Povinelli, Lia Rodrigues, Selvagem, Ukraine War Archive and YouYou Group