End of second cycle Work In Progress: discover the podcast

On June 24, 2025, the last training session of the second cycle of Work in Progress. Work In Progress began in 2024 with an initial series of training on anti-racism in the cultural sector. Following the publication of the informative guide after this first series, Africalia and the RABKO (the Brussels Arts Network) organized five new training courses on anti-racism from February to June 2025. You can now listen again to the key points of this second season in the Work In Progress podcast.

Five sessions on anti-racism

The second edition of Work In Progress kicked off on February 20 at Cinema Nova in Brussels. Carla Mascia, a sociologist at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, hosted a introductory session on social inequality in the arts and presented his research “Inequal Arts”.

During the second session, which took place at Espace Magh on March 27, we explored the spaces and audiences with Loubna El Wahabi (Espace Magh), Elen Sylla (Atelier Graphoui) and Michel Steyaert (Centre Vidéo de Bruxelles). How can we rethink our mediation practices to make our cultural venues welcoming spaces for all?

In April, at the Théâtre de la Vie, we discussed possible strategies and partnerships to ensure a programming inclusive with the artist Pitcho and the expert Mireille-Tsheusi Robert.

For the fourth session, we went to the Kaaitheater on May 20, where Barbara Van Lindt and Nadia El-Boubsi discussed an anti-racist approach in the governanceWe were particularly interested in the how and why of inclusion in the workplace, in management bodies and in application procedures.

On June 24, we closed the training series with a retrospective session hosted by Pilar. Researchers Amal Miri (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Empact vzw and Nuff Said) and Jacinthe Mazzocchetti (UCLouvain), diversity experts Annelies Baes (Actiris) and Emilie Frankinet (BRUXEO), and cultural operators and artists Aminata Demba (actress), Cathy Min Jung (Le Rideau) and Serenella Martufi (Medeber Teatro) reviewed the key points of the series. We focused on the place of racialized women and 'migrant' artists in the performing arts, the legal framework regarding diversity and an anti-racist approach to programming and mediation.

Podcast

The first season of Work In Progress resulted in an informative guide. For the second season, Africalia and RABKO have created a bilingual podcast—in collaboration with Babelfish. Experts from the five different sessions share best practices, recommendations, experiences, and concerns in five consecutive episodes. You can listen to the podcast here.

"In 2025 in Belgium, there are very, very, very few cultural institutions run by people from diverse backgrounds. The challenge for me is that a boat can be steered by someone from the diaspora, and that it's not just the sailors inside" – Pitcho

Also see the informative guide published following the first cycle of Work In Progress!