17:30 > 19:00 - Discussions

Facilitated by Anti Devillet (FR)

Anti Devillet is an independent researcher specialising in the environmental and social issues surrounding technical infrastructure, with a particular focus on digital technology, water and oil. She is also a member of various community and activist groups at the intersection of collective action, local investigations and social struggles, such as le Nuage était sous non pieds, the Gammares collective, and the bureau des guides du GR2013.

Klaus Reimer (BE) - Presentation Cercle de la Voile

A century-old sailing clubhouse situated on the banks of the canal, the Cercle Royal de la Voile has retained its authentic, quaint charm. Its excellent acoustics make it a wonderful venue for concerts. Sport, culture, nature and fried seafood: sailors passing through forge all manner of connections here.

Histories of water, earth and fire: towards a counter-investigation of infrastructure - Anne Stelmes (BE), Alexis Zimmer (FR/BE)

Since 2016, on several occasions, the people of Liège have been invited to embark on a toxic cruise that, from the river, recounts its industrial history while travelling upstream, challenges assumptions, and unravels dominant narratives.

What if it had been possible to take a different turn, and what if this journey had revealed a different story to us from the one usually imposed to justify the massive expansion of heavy industry across our plains? 

A look back and some reflections on this adventure and a discussion rooted in the Brussels canal. 

Anne Stelmes (BE)

Anne Stelmes is an art historian and industrial archaeologist. After spending ten years as a curator at a museum of technical and industrial history, she shifted her focus to developing learning projects. She views the landscape as a historical source to be analysed and seeks to use storytelling to reveal what lies hidden or has disappeared. With a view to conducting a counter-investigation, she proposes frameworks for collective reflection on the societal issues that concern residents of the Liège region in a so-called “post-industrial” context.

Alexis Zimmer (FR/BE)

Alexis Zimmer is a lecturer in environmental history applied to architecture and urban planning at ULiège. At the Faculty of Architecture in Liège, he explores and teaches the interactions between bodies, environments and ways of living. He seeks to enable students to reclaim our present by questioning the knowledge, practices, habits and logics that shape it. He is the author of Brouillard Toxique (Zone sensible, 2016, and Éditions Amsterdam, 2025). 

Quand la piraterie porte ses fruits ou ses enjeux vitaminés - Porteous, UltraRécup & Course des radeaux (The Raft Race) (CH)

In Geneva as elsewhere, paths are narrowing, regulations get stricter, people are denied spaces, whether on choppy waters or on dry land.

Porteous and their adventurous travelling companions, UltraRécup, and the Raft Race have carved a path through the established order along the Rhône to champion rebellious alternatives.

How can we bring together the dynamics and strategies of our struggles and our regions? How can we forge a path, whether by the power of our oars or through the quiet force of the water and our collectives?  

Porteous (CH)

Porteous association is based in a building on the River Rhône in Geneva: a former water treatment plant built in 1967 and decommissioned in 1989. In 2018, Porteous campaigned to turn this site into a hub for community life and culture, opposing the proposed prison that was being planned for the site. After a few months, negotiations with the government were successful: the building has since become a cultural and social hub accessible to all.

UltraRécup (CH)

UltraRécup was founded in 2023 in Geneva and brings together expertise and creativity in the field of upcycling, gathering and repurposing discarded materials to breathe new life into them through construction, social, artistic and cultural projects. One of UltraRécup’s main bases is “La cabane”, a pavilion that can be dismantled and reassembled as required, depending on the location and needs. “La cabane” is currently installed at Porteous, having arrived on a giant raft one autumn day. 

Course des radeaux (Raft Race) (CH)

The Raft Race has been held every August on the River Rhône in Geneva for a quarter of a century. Originally a race between squats, then a form of freshwater piracy, the Raft Race has been organised over the years by self-managed collectives. Everyone is invited to build their own raft from odds and ends and to take to the Rhône under banners as flamboyant as they are varied. 

19:15 > 20:00 - She Shanties and other water stories - She Shanties (BE)

She Shanties are Caroline Daish, Emma Harder and Mathilde Maillard.

Together they navigate along the canal and rivers of Belgium aboard the boats Buratinas and the Rubens.

With She Shanties, they tell and sing ordinary as well as extraordinary stories about their experiences on the waterways with human and non-human entities, developing a new genre of sea shanty (originally a traditional work song that could accompany rhythmic labor aboard large sailing ships. Only 2% of these universal songs are made by women and about 99% of these songs tell stories of drunken sailors, glamorous “exotic” prostitutes and women waiting for their husbands to be back on land). 

Accompanied by Amber Meulenijzer and a hydrophone, they will share aquatic visions with humor and tenderness in a format that blends concert and documentary storytelling.

They will also be accompanied by the participants of the workshops they led during two afternoons of Feral.

Listen to their songs.

The boats:

Olga

Rubens

Buratinas

How to get there?

Address: Cercle de la Voile, Oostvaartdijk 52, 1850 Grimbergen

• Cifas is organising a boat trip, departing from Yser, subject to booking. More information: click here.
• By bike: 1 hour.
• By public transport: 1 hour – Take a train (Gare du Midi, Gare Centrale or Gare du Nord) to Vilvoorde station (15 minutes); Take bus 1 to Grimbergen Verbrande Brug (platform 4), get off at terminus (15 minutes); Walk along canal’s east bank to Cercle de la Voile (12 minutes).
• By public transport + bike: 1 hour – Take your bike on the train (please note to buy an extra ticket for 3 euros) to Vilvoorde station; Cycle along the canal to Cercle de la Voile (14 minutes).

How to get back?

• Cifas is offering a free shuttle service to Vilvoorde station (15 mins). Departures are scheduled for 5.00 pm, 8.00 pm, 9.00 pm, 9.40 pm and 10.30 pm. Places will be limited. If you would like to use the shuttle, we encourage you to sign up as soon as you arrive at the Cercle de la Voile.
• By bike: 1 hour.
• By public transport: 1 hour – Walk to bus stop (12 minutes); Take bus 1 to Vilvoorde station (15 minutes), last bus is at 21:44 (to check train times); Trains for Brussels every 20 minutes until midnight.
• By public transport + bike: 1 hour – Travel to Vilvoorde station (14 minutes); Take bike on train (please note to buy a bike ticket for 3 euros).