Erik Thys Belgium
Erik Thys is a psychiatrist, researcher, and visual artist, affiliated with UPC KU Leuven and the Psycho-Social Centre Ixelles. His work spans mental health, creativity, and history, and includes acclaimed books on psychiatric persecution and Nazi collaboration.
Erik Thys is a psychiatrist at UPC KU Leuven and Psycho-Social Centre Ixelles (Brussels). He holds a PhD on creativity, psychological vulnerability, and stigma, and is the chair of the non-profit organisation KAOS. Thys is also an active visual artist and teaches at KU Leuven and LUCA School of Arts. He is the author of numerous scientific publications, psycho-educational graphic novels, and the books Psychogenocide (EPO, 2015), on the mass murder of psychiatric patients under the Nazi regime, and Verrukkelijke verraders (EPO, 2023), about a glamorous Brussels couple who collaborated with the Nazis.
Meet the other speakers
Elien Ronse
Elien Ronse is a visual artist working across disciplines including contemporary art, community practice, political activism, and theoretical research. Her work critically examines problematic relational mechanisms in late-capitalist society.
Simon Allemeersch
Simon Allemeersch is a theatre maker and member of the collective Lucinda Ra, as well as a researcher at Ghent University. His doctoral research explores housing trajectories in social high-rise buildings, drawing on residents’ lived experiences of mental health care.
Mike Michiels
Mike Michiels is the coordinator of KAOS. He holds a Master’s degree in Arts from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and is trained as a mental health nurse.
@ The conference
Erik will be present for the Friday morning conversation "How can artists claim a meaningful place within care settings?", together with Mike Michiels, Simon Allemeersch & Elien Ronse. Rendez-vous between 11:45 and 12:30.
