‘BLACK FACE IN BELGIUM: Identities and politics at stake in Belgian folk traditions’

As the ‘Black Piet’ controversy rages on in the Netherlands, Belgium nevertheless addresses this question in different and less mediatized ways. This panel is the opportunity for an overview of the origins of this tradition, as well as others such as the Noirauds custom in Brussels, and the recent fads of ‘black face rallyes’ in student circles, and of the positioning of both militants and politicians on this practice.

With : Mireille Tsheusi Robert (Sociologist, BAMKO), Patrick Charlier (Co-director UNIA, Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities), Karl Van Den Broeck (BOZAR Agora), and Méline and Lili (La Nouvelle Voie Anticoloniale).

Moderator: Olivier Mukuna (journalist and essayist)