Big Questions

lecture series of the city festival ‘Baroque Influencers’

March-November 2023

2023 will be the year of Baroque Influencers, a city festival of tradition and innovation that will make Antwerp buzz with art and culture. The central question is: Why are and will we remain children of the Baroque? Initiators UCSIA and Antwerp University want to show the influence of the Baroque on the present and highlight the central role the Jesuits played in Antwerp.

The 17th century was decisive for the development of Antwerp and the Low Countries. But it was also a very turbulent period. Religious wars, trade, and the exploration of the newly discovered New World shook the prevailing worldview. Similar to today, citizens faced a lot of uncertainties. Yet they looked to the future full of hope and confidence. Can we find inspiration in the baroque wisdom and solutions of that time? Can their attitude to life give us a foothold in this rapidly changing world? We seek the answer in the lecture series ‘Big Questions’.

The series mirrors our society to that of the Baroque on the basis of four themes: solidarity, religion, education, and (de)colonisation. For each theme, we developed a four-part programme: a historical approach, a contemporary perspective, and two debates. A total of sixteen activities in which we give the floor to experts such as Lea Ypi, Wim Decock, Liz Bucar, Judith Pollmann, Ad Meskens, Ann Dooms, and Manuel Sintubin.

Besides the lectures, there is much more baroque to discover. The festival programme includes exhibitions, concerts and theatre. A city trail will guide you along the most important baroque sites in Antwerp. Be sure to mark the weekend of 22 April in your diary! That’s when we open the central expo with a big party on Conscienceplein. The festival will run from March until November 2023. Discover the programme!

Solidarity

an historical perspective
with Wim Decock

Wim Decock

Social Struggles & Solidarity

lecture (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
16 March 2023

a contemporary perspective
with Lea Ypi

Lea Ipy

Solidarity, Immigration
& Social Class

lecture
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
29 March 2023

debate on
microfinancing

Bokaal met geld

Microfinance:
Between Solidarity and Gain

debate (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
18 April 2023

debate on solidarity
in the European Union

Frank Vandenbroucke

Solidarity in the European Union

lecture
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
24 April 2023

Religion

an historical perspective
with Judith Pollmann

dummy-4k

How dangerous is the faith of the other?

lecture (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
9 May 2023

a contemporary perspective
with Liz Bucar

Liz Bucar

Why shopping for our spirituality in all corners of the world can be a problem

lecture
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
3 May 2023

debate on religion
art & inclusion

Lieke Stelling

The Belief in the Joke:
Humour and the Religious Other

lecture (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
15 May 2023

debate on
religion & art

May 2023
(date to be confirmed)
More info will be posted soon!

Education

an historical perspective
with Ad Meskens

Het interieur en gekende tegelvloer van de Sint-Carolus Borromeuskerk in Antwerpen geschilderd door Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg

Calculated Believers? Painters, the Jesuits and Innovative Mathematics

lecture (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
10 October 2023

a contemporary perspective
Ann Dooms & Manuel Sintubin

Wiskunde en wetenschappen als kunst voor morgen

Mathematics and Sciences as Art for Tomorrow

lecture (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
25 October 2023

debate on education with
Jan Royackers & Philip Brinckman

dummy-4k

The Teacher as Influencer

webinar (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
4 October 2023

debate on education
on the borders of society

Borders © Siora Photography

To the Borders:
How can we reach people at the margins of society through education?

panel discussion (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
16 October 2023

(De)Colonization

an historical perspective by
Mirela Altic & Francesmar Alex Lopes de Carvalho

Prent uit ‘Imago primi saeculi Societatis Iesu a Prouincia Flandro-Belgica euisdem Societatis repreasentata.’ (Antwerp: Ex officina Plantiniana Balthasaris Moreti, 1640) © Pius XII Memorial Library, Saint Louis University

Missions, Maps and Mediators

lecture
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
7 November 2023

a contemporary perspective on relations with the East by Veerle De Vos

Jesuit astronomers with Kangxi Emperor 1690-1705 Beauvais (c) Philippe Behagle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Discovery of China

book launch (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
20 November 2023

debate on the history of the missio and (de)colonization
led by Sibo Kanobana

Kerk in Tabora, Tanzania (c) Rohan Reddy via Unsplash

The Future of the Mission,
the Mission of the Future

debate (in Dutch)
Big Questions of Baroque Influencers
27 November 2023

UCSIA

Koningstraat 2
B-2000 Antwerpen
info@ucsia.be
Tel. +32 (0)3 265 49 60

Voorlopige locatie tijdens de renovatiewerken:
Blindestraat 14, 2000 Antwerpen