GUT! (Hyster-X) : A literary evening dedicated to the gut

GUT! is a literary evening dedicated to the gut. In three chapters and a concluding panel discussion, we journey inward: from the visible surface to the elusive realm of intuition and primal feeling. Guided by host Mel Asselmans, our tour guide for the night, speakers, performers, and guests explore every facet of the gut — from beach body to womb, from insecurity to instinct.

Our first stop is the soft, rounded exterior. Here, Emerald Liu, Corinne Heyrman, and Adel Aïcha Ben Abid reflect on appearance, the body, and representation. We then descend further, passing vital organs — the stomach, intestines, and womb — with contributions from Emerald Liu, Ella Salvador, Tess van Deynse, and Dilara Kabak. In the third chapter, we venture even deeper, into a part of the gut that cannot be touched: our instinct, intuition, gut feeling, and emotions, with speakers Dilara Kabak, Emilie Dewitte, and Emerald Liu.

After these three chapters, Mel Asselmans engages two guest speakers in conversation about how they translate gut feeling into action, and the role the gut plays in their (creative) practice.

Between acts, Knee Deep In Custard provides musical interludes. There is also space for care and vulnerability at the P.H.B.O. (Poetic First Aid) post, where Stefanie Huysmans–Noorts offers tailored poetic treatments.

Following the conversation, Homa Arkani presents Motherland, a performance in which rice functions as a metaphor for care and motherhood.

The evening concludes with live music and spoken word by Anna Khina in the M HKAFE — an invitation to shake our bellies (and hips) one last time before heading home.

This program is part of the exhibition by Pauline Curnier Jardin.

Image: Margot Delaet

18:00 – Doors open
19:00 – GUT! – Outside
19:35 – Break
19:55 – GUT! – Inside
20:25 – Break
20:45 – GUT! – Inside the inside
21:15 – Panel discussion
21:30 – Performance – Homa Arkani
21:50 – Anna Khina in M HKAFE
23:00 – End

Mel Asselmans

Mel Asselmans (she/her) is a spoken word poet and a member of the inclusive makers’ collective Hyster-x, though these days she primarily identifies as a searching human being. Her poetry revolves around that search and what writing can (still) mean within it. Love, radical softness, and the endless pursuit of balance are recurring themes in her work.

Knee Deep In Custard

Knee Deep In Custard is a duo combining live vocals, piano, bass, and electronic compositions, wandering around with pebbles in their shoes and grins on their faces. They sound like memories from the past, a funny walk, or tears falling onto piano keys.

Stefanie Huysmans–Noorts

Stefanie Huysmans–Noorts is a writer as well as an actress, theatre maker, director, and writing teacher. She has performed on stages ranging from Antwerp to Amsterdam and Berlin. In 2022, she created the performance parthenogenesis in response to the exhibition Folded Whites by Ilke Cop, which she reprised in August 2023 at Theatre aan Zee in Ostend. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Kluger Hans, Deus Ex Machina, and on the digital platform of publisher Hetmoet. Since 2022, she has been a member of Hyster-x, a collective for female and non-binary makers. She is also the artistic director of Dans! Dichter! Dans!, a platform bringing together performer-poets and a collective of musicians.

Emerald Liu

Emerald Liu is a Chinese-Belgian writer and playwright whose work revolves around different forms of care, with the aim of fostering open dialogue between cultures. Her work has appeared in Hard//Hoofd, Deus Ex Machina, and nY magazine. She has previously performed at Kunstenfestival Watou, Dans!Dichter!Dans!, and De Nacht van de Geschiedenis. She is currently a poetry editor at Kluger Hans and Poëziekrant.

Corinne Heyrman

Corinne Heyrman is a writer, theatre maker, and podcast creator who works in close dialogue with society and lived reality. She wrote Het begin en zijn oneindigheid, a novel exploring where psychological vulnerability begins and whether it ever ends, and Pink Sheep of the Family, a production by Het Zuidelijk Toneel in which two generations of trans* people dissect the concept of “family.” As a podcast maker, she is affiliated with the collective Horens and has worked on Drie Uur ’s Nachts, Wie Wat Bewaart, and Met open ogen luisteren. She teaches writing and performance at ArtEZ University of the Arts, in prisons, and in residential care centres.

Adel Aïcha Ben Abid

Adel Aïcha Ben Abid is a writer, theatre maker, and performer. As a member of the theatre collective Jong Gewei, she has written and performed several productions in recent years. Her work continually seeks connections between social reality, magic, and surrealism.

Ella Salvador

Ella Salvador (she/her) is a poet, musician, and performer. Her work explores interpersonal relationships, grief, and womanhood in a thoughtful yet playful way. In her performances De Pauw en de Waterman / de Pauw / het Water, she examines love in its broadest sense. In addition to Hyster-X, Ella is also part of the artist duo My Friends House.

Tess van Deynse

Tess is a neurodivergent person with an alternative and sensitive way of experiencing the world. Her critical and realistic outlook manifests itself through an array of magnified emotions. She has a mature style of storytelling.

Dilara Kabak

Dilara is a storyteller who enjoys writing about mutations and metamorphoses, about rubble and hope. She does not play with language — language plays with her.

Emilie Dewitte

Emilie Dewitte is a poet and graphic artist. In 2022, she debuted with the poetry collection Werk (Pelckmans). Her poetry investigates skewed power relations, social injustice, and the distorted relationship between humans and their environment with both sharp intelligence and sensory awareness. She works as a seasonal labourer on an organic farm and as a teacher in prison.

Homa Arkani

Homa Arkani’s dreamlike universe invites us to question what we perceive. At once playful and provocative, her paintings, drawings, and installations explore themes of belonging, memory, and subtle resistance. Through a distinctive visual language, Arkani reveals the layered complexity of identity, shaped by both personal and collective histories.

Anna Khina

Anna Borodikhina is an Antwerp-based artist, rapper, spoken word performer, and theatre maker with Tatar, Russian, and Ukrainian-Polish roots. For over a decade, she has operated at the intersection of music, poetry, and performance. Her work explores identity, queer love, migration, and desire, bringing the personal to the stage in ways that resonate universally. In her latest EP Grenzeloze Golven (Borderless Waves), Anna blends spoken word, rap, and vocals with electronic beats and melodies from Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Panel discussion – BIO