Bieke Verlinden
Bieke Verlinden is Alderman for Care and Wellbeing in Leuven. Her engagement is rooted in a broad vision of care: supporting people in all stages of life, including in grief and loss, and for those who are no longer with us.
Bieke looks at cemeteries as integral parts of life: spaces for mourning and remembrance, but also for reflection, calm, and meaningful rituals. Since 2016, Leuven has offered an annual program around grief and loss, including lectures, creative workshops, and connecting initiatives that make space for shared reflection.
Her work is guided by the belief that sharing can heal, and that care gains its true meaning when it is experienced collectively. As a Compassionate Community. This vision comes together in Folded Memory, a project exploring attention, slowing down, and embodied remembrance at the crossroads of body and soul.
Meet the other speakers
Karen Wuytens
Karen Wuytens is an artist and researcher who investigates objects as active carriers of meaning, shaped by context, ritual, and care.
Bert Willems
Prof. Dr. Bert Willems is Head of Research at MAD-Research (PXL-MAD, UHasselt). He specializes in research policy and discourse in the arts, with a focus on the societal and academic value of artistic research.
@ The conference
Bieke Verlinden will join us on Thursday afternoon to present the 3rd story of Folded Memory, in the theme 'Older adults & intergenerational practices', in conversation with Karen Wuytens and Bert Willems.
