Le rêve et l'ombre

How can democracy succeed when anti-democratic tendencies are on the rise?

Le rêve et l'ombre Graphic Design: Our Polite Society

About the project

Postcolonial Perspectives on Democracy

With the growing unease about democratic institutions, the question of how democracy can survive in the future becomes more urgent than ever. In 2026 and 2027, the Goethe-Institut Brussels will explore aesthetic and theoretical examinations of the current crisis of democracy. The focus will be on postcolonial perspectives that trace the genealogies of colonial and imperial forces embedded in the founding myths of Western European democracies. In doing so, they open up space for narrative corrections and democratic imaginations.

The programme will include an evening with David van Reybrouck at the House of European History, an accompanying program of the exhibition Département des Pièges by curator Dr. Clémentine Deliss at Brussel’s new KANAL Centre Pompidou, and a cooperation with Africa Is/In the Future Festival. More information will follow.

Highlights

An Evening With David Van Reybrouck

PLANETARY THINKING

The Goethe-Institut Brussels and the German Embassy in Brussels are pleased to invite you to an evening with David Van Reybrouck. The programme will explore democratic renewal in an age of planetary crises through a conversation with sociologist Simon Schaupp and a scenic reading inspired by Van Reybrouck's novel Zinc.

© David Van Reybrouck + Alex Vanhee © David Van Reybrouck + Alex Vanhee
Concert

Guérison Sonore

Africa is/in the Future festival explores artistic practices that address or initiate communities. In particular, it focuses on collective forms of resistance and examines complicity as a strategy for resilience, as well as the complexities interwoven with it. As part of Le Rêve et l’Ombre we aim to bring together German and Belgian voices from the African diaspora who are developing alternative futures. This year, we are delighted to welcome musician and sound poet Gugulethu Duma aka Dumama, who will perform a two-hour set entitled Guérison Sonore (Sound Healing).

©Badehaus ©Badehaus
E.N. Mirembe

Curatorial Residency

The Goethe-Institut Brüssel and MORPHO are delighted to inaugurate their collaboration in 2026 with an international curatorial residency. Goethe-Institut Brüssel supports the participation of one curator going to Antwerp for a three-month residency, in the framework of a thematic programme that explores curating in times of democratic crisis.

Photo: Miles Fischler Photo: Miles Fischler

Participating artists and curators

Nicky Aerts is a Belgian journalist and radio presenter. She graduated as an English-German interpreter and went on to study acting at Kleine Academie in Brussels. In 1999, she found her niche at VRT, as presenter of the cultural radioshow De Kunstberg at Radio 3 (now Klara). She would never really leave there. She also presented programmes at Radio 1 and the VRT news service. She left for Berlin in 2009 for 4 years and added another 3 years in Jerusalem, from where she worked partly as a VRT correspondent. She learned Russian in Berlin, and Arabic in Jerusalem. Afterwards, she returned to Klara to present the cultural radioshow Pompidou together with network head Chantal Pattyn.
Clémentine Deliss is an independent curator whose practice crosses the borders of contemporary art, critical anthropology and curatorial experimentation. She is the initiator and director of the Metabolic Museum-University which is both online at mm-u.online, and on site in Berlin and Brussels. Deliss is currently Curator at Large at KANAL-Centre Pompidou in Brussels, and Guest Professor KANAL-Centre Pompidou at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. Between 2010–2015, she directed the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt instituting a new research lab for remediating collections held in ethnographic museums. Her recent book “Skin in the Game. Conversations on Risk and Contention” was published in 2023 by Hatje Cantz in co-production with KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin.
Gugulethu Duma (alias Dumama) is a musician, composer, sound poet and creative producer from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, who currently lives and works in Berlin. The Goethe-Institut is delighted to have been supporting the artist throughout her career for many years and across continents, both through the Goethe Talents scholarship programme for emerging artists and via invitations to film festivals, music performances, a podcast project and workshops. Her work has been presented at some of the most renowned German and international venues, such as SAVVY Contemporary, Gropius Bau, Humboldt Forum, Boiler Room x Total Refreshment Center, Zeits Mocaa, Oyoun Kultur NeuDenken, Berlin Xjazz, Berghain Kantine, Chimurenga, KONJO, as well as at many other curated events in South Africa, Senegal, Berlin and the USA.
Fábio Godinho studied acting at Cours Florent in Paris and theatre studies at Sorbonne Nouvelle University. His research focused on the exploration of acting and non-acting in Flemish theatre. Since then, he has worked across theatre, audiovisual media and the arts. In 2022, he co-founded the publishing house LUAR Éditions with his brother, Marco Godinho, and Keong-A Song. Its name means “moonlight” in Portuguese. He appeared as an actor in the production ZINC by David Van Reybrouck and Dead Centre, which premiered on 19 September 2026 at the Théâtre de Liège. He lives and works between Paris and Luxembourg.
Cathy Min Jung is an actress, director and theatre director. She studied at the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. She has performed at various leading Belgian theatres and her artistic work explores themes such as identity, heritage, adoption and social responsibility. Since 2020, she has been the General Director and Artistic Director of the Rideau de Bruxelles. She appeared as an actress in the production ZINC by David Van Reybrouck and Dead Centre, which premiered on 19 September 2026 at the Théâtre de Liège.
E.N. Mirembe currently holds a curatorial residency at Morpho Antwerp, initiated by the Goethe-Institut Brussels on the theme of curating in times of democratic crisis. Their practice attends to literary and visual cultures through a Black Studies lens. E.N. Mirembe has edited and published three books including, ‘The Geography of Fixed Things: Eastern African Artists from the Arak Collection’ (2025). They curated 'In Transit Under Another Sky' at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum as part of the 2025 Coventry Biennial, ‘Sonic Commons’ (Nairobi, 2026), ‘The Geography of Fixed Things’ (Shenzhen, 2025), ‘Njabala: An Elegy’ (Kampala, 2024), and ‘at the limit of dream’ (Brussels, 2023). Their writing is published in Camera Austria, Artforum, Contemporary And, Africa is a Country, African Arguments, and others.
Julie Mughunda is an actress and theatre maker. After studying acting at RITCS in Brussels, she has worked in Belgium and the Netherlands, including as a regular guest artist with the music theatre collective DIEHELEDING. She also contributes to the writing and music. In her artistic work, she explores personal relationships with intimacy and heritage. She appeared as an actress in the production ZINC by David Van Reybrouck and Dead Centre, which premiered on 19 September 2026 at the Théâtre de Liège.
Simon Schaupp is a social scientist whose research focuses on work, ecology and digitalisation. He is currently PBOFZAP Research Professor for Labour and Sustainability at KU Leuven. At the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, he leads the project Ecological Obstinacy. He is also a fellow at the Centre for Global Cooperation Research and a partner in the Climate Adaptation Lab at La Trobe University, Australia. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Work, Employment and Society His most recent book is Metabolic Politics: Work, Nature, and the Future of the Planet (Suhrkamp, 2024).
David Van Reybrouck is a historian and researcher in the field of democracy. Through the NGO G1000, he champions citizens’ assemblies across Europe and brings participatory democracy to life. His meticulously researched books on South Africa, the Congo and Indonesia bring marginalised voices to the fore and broaden our understanding of democracy and colonial history. Through his advocacy for new forms of democratic participation, he is a committed voice for the renewal of democratic processes. In 2025, David Van Reybrouck was awarded the Goethe Medal. His most recent publication is The World and the Earth (2025).