The collaboration between 2026WOMEN and De Kompaan is emerging as one of the many meaningful community‑driven initiatives surrounding the 2026WOMEN Tribunal, blending culinary exchange, artistic creation, and women‑led cultural work. The partnership began in February, when 2026WOMEN were invited into De Kompaan’s community kitchen for a workshop examining the stereotypes and overlooked potentials of women in culinary roles. The session concluded with a shared vegan Syrian‑Lebanese dinner, reinforcing the kitchen’s ethos of hospitality and multicultural exchange.

The relationship deepened when De Kompaan members visited Madam Fortuna for a painting workshop, creating a panel that will decorate the space where they will serve lunch during the Tribunal. They also learned songs from the 2026WOMEN repertoire in preparation for their inédit performance during the Tribunal26: صوتي – Mijn Stem. Through these encounters, the two groups have built a partnership that reflects the Tribunal’s core values: multiculturality, gender equality, and cooperativism.

This same spirit shapes the catering arrangements for the event. To ensure sustainable planning and avoid food waste, all meals must be reserved in advance and paid on-site, either in cash or via Payconiq. Participants who already paid for their lunch through the Arenberg registration remain fully included, while others can reserve their preferred option and settle payment during the event.

On Friday 27 March, De Kompaan will serve a fully vegan lunch offering three price-accessible options: a €4 soup, a €6 lentil stew, and the €10 falafel wrap meal already prepaid by some attendees through Arenberg. That evening, dinner will be provided by SiBon, offering a vegan Lebanese meal at €15, available exclusively through pre‑order and paid on-site.

The following day, Saturday 28 March, lunch will be free for all participants who registered online for TRIBU26, underscoring the event’s commitment to accessibility and collective participation. Saturday evening concludes with another vegan Lebanese dinner by SiBon (€15), again requiring pre‑order and on‑site payment.

Please be sure to pre-order your meals before Monday, March 16th! Through partnerships like this, the 2026WOMEN Tribunal becomes a living example of how grassroots initiatives can nourish communities—through food, through art, and through the shared work of women shaping more cooperative futures.

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria

 

The 2026WOMEN Tribunal will take place from Thursday 26 March to Saturday 28 March at Arenberg Theater, bringing together testimonies, artistic interventions, and grassroots proposals addressing gender‑based violence from a FINTA perspective. As preparations intensify, the organising team is seeking women and FINTA volunteers to help ensure that this international event is welcoming, accessible, and professionally coordinated.

Purpose and context

The 2026WOMEN Tribunal is designed as a space where survivors, activists, artists, and community organisations collectively articulate systemic challenges and propose transformative solutions. Its hybrid format—combining testimony, artivism, and facilitated dialogue—requires a strong volunteer team to support both logistical operations and participant experience. Volunteers may contribute for half‑day or full‑day shifts, depending on availability.

Volunteer responsibilities

Volunteers will support a range of essential tasks that contribute directly to the smooth functioning of the 2026WOMEN Tribunal:

• • 🗣 Interpretation and language support — assisting multilingual participants and supporting interpretation needs identified by partner organisations.
  • 🤝 Hosting and group facilitation — welcoming workshop attendees, guiding them through the venue, and supporting specific facilitated activities.
  • 🎟 Welcome desk and registration — managing participant check‑in, distributing meal tickets, and directing attendees to sessions and activities.
  • 🎛 Production logistics — preparing and moving tables, chairs, microphones, signage, and assisting with room transitions.
  • 🍲 Catering and cleaning support — helping with food distribution and maintaining clean, accessible shared spaces throughout the day.
  • ♿ Accessibility assistance — accompanying attendees with physical disabilities or mobility restrictions and ensuring their safe navigation of the venue.

Participation and contact

Volunteers will receive clear instructions, on‑site coordination, and the opportunity to attend the 2026WOMEN Tribunal activities outside their assigned shifts. Those interested in contributing to this significant event are invited to register HERE, or contact the organising team at stage@madamfortuna.be for more information.

2026WOMEN Tribunal is a community-led, grassroots event made possible thanks to the engagement of more than 40 international partner organisations fighting for gender justice! Join us in this historic movement!

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria

Picture: Kim Karnas

 

A Europe‑wide programme commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women has been unfolding since January, bringing together universities, feminist organisations and cultural partners to revisit the Tribunal’s legacy and its global reverberations. Supported by CIVIS – A European Civic University Alliance (Student-Led Projects Call 2025), the project revisits the legacy of the 1976 Tribunal. After opening at Sapienza University in Rome and continuing with a full day of study in Lausanne on 27 February, the project has gathered momentum through a series of academic and cultural encounters designed to reconnect with the political force of the original Tribunal.

Brussels will host the next key moment on 5 March 2026, when ULB’s Coin Culture welcomes audiences for an evening dedicated to the Tribunal’s history. From 18h30, visitors will be received for the presentation of a new historical study written by Milène Le Goff, followed at 19h by the inauguration of a photographic exhibition tracing the archives, actors and international reach of the 1976 gathering. This double event will anchor the Belgian chapter of the programme and is expected to draw wide interest. Attendance is free but requires registration. You can reserve a book copy via the same form.

 

The academic activities will follow on 25 March at the ULB/VUB Learning Theatre, where an international colloquium will bring together researchers, archivists and activists for a day of multilingual panels. Discussions will explore feminist strategies for naming and recognising violence, the role of civil society in driving change, and the political significance of symbolic justice, with a participatory workshop closing the day. Attendance is also free and open for a mixed public, but requires registration.

The commemorations will culminate in Antwerp on 27 and 28 March, when the Arenberg Theatre hosts two days dedicated to ARTivism and performance as well as to discussions and search for alternatives to address gender injustice. Far from a simple celebration of 1976, the Antwerp programme aims to confront today’s gendered inequalities, strengthen bonds of sisterhood and collective care, and foreground grassroots strategies for resistance and transformation.

Through artistic performance, film screenings, musical programming and academic panels on storytelling, living archives and ecofeminist perspectives, the event will create a space where memory becomes a tool for action and where the struggles of the past meet the urgencies of the present. As the anniversary month reaches its peak, the Brussels colloquium and the Antwerp gathering promise to honour the voices of 1976 while amplifying the feminist movements shaping the decades ahead.

Be part of this historic moment! Check the full program and register for all days of the 2026WOMEN Tribunal HERE!

 

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria

Photo: Anna Kestens

This March, Arenberg becomes the beating heart of the 2026WOMEN Tribunal — a vibrant, joyful, and deeply moving feminist gathering. For two full days, the theatre transforms into a space of creativity, solidarity, and collective power, marking the 50th anniversary of the 1976 International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women. An international network of over forty feminist, socio‑artistic, and academic organisations joins forces to create a program that is as inspiring as it is urgent.

We start with the powerful 2026WOMEN’s avant-première of their new spectacle ‘صوتي – Mijn Stem‘ for a mixed public on the evening of the 26th March (tickets HERE). On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March, Arenberg opens its doors to a rich mix of ARTivist and ACTivist activities designed for a FINTA public (Female, Intersex, Non‑binary, Trans, Agender). Creative workshops invite participants to explore testimonies through movement, sound, and visual expression, building resilience and solidarity through socio‑artistic exchange. Throughout the building, film screenings, debates, exhibitions, participatory artworks, partner organisation stands, and feminist literature corners offer countless ways to engage, reflect and connect. Arenberg’s stages will also host powerful performances by If Circus and Think Again.

Saturday features one of the Tribunal’s most ambitious moments: the TRIBU26 Deep Democracy session, bringing together 500 participants across 50 tables to share experiences and co‑create grassroots solutions to private, public, political, economic, and cultural violence. A parallel workshop for cisgender men at Het Paleis (ALLIES26) offers space for allyship and responsibility.

As evening falls, Arenberg fills with celebration and feminist joy. On Saturday at 19h, an ARTivist ceremony animates Theatre Plein before the community returns indoors for a night of connection and collective energy with more artistic performances, ending with a vibrant celebration with DJ Amazonita!

Entry on Friday (9h–19h) and Saturday (9h–23h) is FREE with registration, thanks to the support of partners and funders. Evening performances and movie session on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 are open to a mixed audience with pre‑sold tickets. Spread the word — the 2026WOMEN Tribunal won’t be the same without you!

REGISTRATION LINKS

Friday 27th: Opening Ceremony and Socio-artistic Mosaic – Registration HERE.

Saturday 28th: TRIBU26 and Closing Ceremony – Registration HERE.

TICKETS

Thursday 26th: 2026WOMEN’s ‘صوتي – Mijn Stem’ Performance – Tickets HERE.

Friday 27th: If Circus’ ‘MELIC’ Performance – Tickets HERE.

Friday 27th: ‘C’è Ancora Domani’ Movie – Tickets HERE.

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria

Picture: Kim Karnas (2024)

 

Avant-première of the 2026WOMEN Tribunal Opening Performance

26 March 2026 – Arenberg Theatre, Antwerp – Tickets HERE.

Opening the historic edition of the 2026WOMEN Tribunal on Crimes Against Women is ‘صوتي | Mijn Stem’, a vibrant new music-theatre performance created by the 2026WOMEN Collective, directed by Alix Konadu, and produced by Madam Fortuna. This performance brings together 40 women from Antwerp, Marseille, Barcelona, and Rotterdam, in a work inspired by courage and hope.

After 2024’s sold‑out creation (Simawe | See my Way), the collective returns with a renewed artistic force. Where the previous performance confronted violence head‑on, this new edition shifts the focus: yes, violence persists, but women persist louder. ‘صوتي | Mijn Stem’ embraces the power of standing together, transforming pain into creativity and testimony into movement. It is a performance that refuses silence and celebrates joy as a form of resistance.

The work emerges from a four‑day artistic residency in which participants co‑create scenes and choreographies rooted in shared experience based on the songs written over 2025 under the guidance of Céline di Maccio. Voices from the groundbreaking 1976 Tribunal echo through the performance, meeting the voices of 2026 to reveal both the distance travelled and the struggles that remain. The result is a multilingual, multidisciplinary piece that moves fluidly between poetic, explosive and deeply intimate moments.

At the heart of the scenography stands a collaboratively built tree, created in workshops led by Pauline Gaeremynck. Its handmade leaves, crafted by participants and community members, symbolise the collective strength that grows when women gather, create and refuse to be divided. ‘صوتي | Mijn Stem’ reminds us that when women create together, they reinvent the world.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

Date & Time: 26 March 2026 at 20h15

Venue: Arenberg Theatre, Antwerp

Audience: Mixed public

Tickets: Minimum price 10 EUR (+ kansentarief). Additional contributions support travel and accommodation for participants from the four port cities. Buy it HERE.

This avant-première precedes the official performance at the 2026WOMEN Tribunal opening ceremony on 27 March for a FINTA audience (free with registration).

CREATIVE TEAM

Director: Alix Konadu

Musical Direction: Céline di Maccio

Choreography: Katja Pire

Costumes: Pauline Gaeremynck, Annemie Weijm

Decor: Pauline Gaeremynck, Selin Aydinol, Diana Lazurenko, Annemie Weyn

Light: Mdina van der Linden

Sound: Gaia Lufrano

Production: Sien Martens

International Coordination: Anna Cooper

Musicians:

Céline di Maccio – Bass

Dina al Jamal – Violin

Sarah van Impe – Percussions

Suheir Abdul Rasol – Piano

2026WOMEN performers:

Antwerp: Annie, Deborah, Elis, Iraide, Jarmila, Leen, Leen, Maria Teresa, Nadia, Petra, Shabnam, Wally.

Barcelona: Ayla-Marina, Laura, Manep, Rita, Violeta.

Marseille: Ariadna, Didia, Ibtissem, Karima, Lady, Lena, Marie-Claire, Olivia, Sonia, Yadanar.

Rotterdam: Cynthia, Fester, Josephine, Maria, Precious.

 

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria

Picture: Kim Karnas

 

Over the past decades, people’s tribunals have been convened around war crimes, state violence, and human rights abuses – each time demonstrating that people themselves can reclaim the authority to name harm and demand accountability. They take shape when institutions fail to confront systemic harm, offering a public space where communities can speak truths that would otherwise remain unheard. Women’s tribunals, in particular, have made visible the everyday and extraordinary forms of violence that official systems have too often ignored or failed to address.

A defining moment in this history was the 1976 International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Brussels, where more than 2,000 women from over the world gathered to testify. Their stories of sexual violence, forced motherhood, medical abuse, economic oppression, and the persecution of lesbians, were spoken collectively, many for the first time. As the Tribunal did not claim legal authority, its power came from the act of women naming their experiences together and insisting that these were not private tragedies but political realities.

Fifty years later, the urgency that animated Brussels has not faded. Gender‑based violence continues to shape lives across Europe and beyond, intersecting with racism, migration, precarity, and queerphobia. 2026WOMEN Tribunal takes up this legacy and expands it, creating a transnational space where women and queer people can testify, create, and imagine new forms of justice.

The 2026WOMEN Tribunal was intentionally designed to be safe and diverse, focusing on the struggles, needs and hopes of women and gender minorities. You will see that reflected on out choice for a FINTA public. That means that our free activities over the week will be open for female, inter-sex, non-binary, transgender and agender persons.

Calling a tribunal in 2026 is both a remembrance and a renewal. It invites communities to gather, to listen, and to confront the structures that perpetuate harm. It asks us to participate as witnesses and allies in a collective process of truth‑telling.

Joining the 2026WOMEN Tribunal means standing with those who refuse silence. It means helping shape a public record that institutions have failed to produce, and believing that when voices rise together, they can shift what feels possible. Built in collaboration with more than 40 grassroots partner organisations, the 2026WOMEN Tribunal creates a safe and vibrant space for learning, exchange, creativity, political action, and collective celebration. Join us for four days of ARTivism and ACTivism as we work toward more just futures!

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria

Picture: Anna Kestens

 

The 2026WOMEN Tribunal is set to bring together artists, activists, academics, and community leaders from Marseille, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Brussels, and Antwerp – women and queer people whose presence is essential to shaping a transnational stand against gender‑based violence. Their mobility is far more than a logistical concern; it is the lifeline of the project. As these participants travel, they carry pluricultural stories of resistance, artistic practices rooted in their local realities, and a shared determination to imagine a world free from gender injustice.

Ensuring that they can gather for the artistic residency leading to the performance صوتي | Mijn Stem  – which will open 2026WOMEN Tribunal – is a crucial step in strengthening a diverse front against patriarchal oppression. Cross‑border exchange deepens the Tribunal’s impact, continuing the legacy of 1976 and transforming the event into a living, collaborative process of testimony, creation, and political imagination.

This year, that mobility becomes possible thanks to the support of Keolis, whose sponsorship helps make the transnational gathering viable. The collaboration aligns with Keolis’ broader commitment to gender equality in mobility and employment. The company has been working to increase women’s representation across its workforce and to open pathways into the sector – including offering free training for the category D driving license, enabling more women to access careers in bus driving.

By supporting the travel of participants to the 2026 WOMEN Tribunal, Keolis also contributes to a wider movement: one that defends that women must not just be safe in public space but also visible, mobile, and empowered within it. We, as 2026WOMEN, understand the importance of women’s and gender minorities productive inclusion as a means to have more autonomy so they can free from unsafe and abusive relationships.

The Tribunal’s strength lies in the diversity and cooperation of those who take part. This partnership – one of many, we hope – helps ensure women’s voices can meet, resonate, and rise together. If you know of other companies who also align with the 2026WOMEN values and would like to support the Tribunal and our future activities, contact us!

REGISTER NOW TO BE PART OF THIS HISTORIC MOVEMENT FOR GENDER JUSTICE!

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria

Picture: Anna Kestens

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Registrations are now open for the 2026WOMEN Tribunal, a four-day international gathering marking the 50th anniversary of the historic International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women held in Brussels in 1976. Taking place in late March 2026 across Brussels and Antwerp, the Tribunal brings together art, activism and academia to demand gender justice and imagine worlds free from gender-based violence.

Organised by an international network of more than forty feminist, socio-artistic and academic organisations, the program offers a rich mix of activities: panel discussions, socio-artistic and deep democracy workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, performances, yoga sessions and public ceremonies.

A central highlight is the artistic residency and collective performance “صوتي | Mijn Stem”, created by 40 women from the port cities of Antwerp, Marseille, Barcelona and Rotterdam. After the remarkable performance “Simawe“, the 2026WOMEN will deliver another original performance that will transform testimony and resistance into a powerful shared artwork.

WHEN AND WHERE

Events will be hosted at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Brussels) and the Arenberg Theatre (Antwerp), with daytime and evening activities spread across Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 25-28 March 2026.

PARTICIPATION AND REGISTRATION

Thanks to the support of partners and funders, daytime events on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are free of charge, with online registration required.

Most activities are reserved for a FINTA*-only public, particularly daytime program at Arenberg on Friday and Saturday. Yet, we have mixed-public performances, and a dedicated workshop for cis-men on Saturday at hetpaleis, the ALLIES26 – in parallel with TRIBU26 -, to raise awareness about multiple aspect of gender-based violence, and how to become an ally.

Paid evening performances are open to a mixed public (including cis-gender men) and include:

“صوتي | Mijn Stem”, by 2026WOMEN (26th March at 8pm) – Tickets HERE.

“Melic“, by If Circus (27th March at 8pm) – Tickets HERE.

Free workshops and public ceremonies also require online registration, even when no ticket is needed. To register, buy tickets, and reserve meals, please visit the 2026WOMEN Tribunal page and venue websites. Spaces for some activities are limited, so early registration is recommended.

Stay connected by subscribing to the 2026WOMEN newsletter and following the 2026WOMEN project on Instagram and Facebook. Share the information within your networks! For any questions or suggestions, the organising team is happy to hear from you.

We hope to see you there to strengthen our solidarity and propose alternatives towards gender justice together!

*FINTA: Female, Intersex, Non-binary, Transgender, Agender

 

Right before the end-year holidays, the 2026WOMEN are still up and running! A few of us visited Het MAS – Museum aan de Stroom, in Antwerp, invited by the dance coach Lara Groenweg. It started with a guided tour, including the current interactive exhibition ‘Universal Tongue’, together with the women from the Red Cross shelter in Sint-Niklaas.

Focused on how dance is a shared human language, we took the chance to use the ‘Open Dansvloer‘ (Open Dancefloor) in th museum for a dance impro workshop. This space is an invitation for visitors to connect through movement and make the museum lively.

Based on a conceptual choreography developed by Maria Teresa and Céline, the group brought new movements to the floor. After two warm up exercises to connect their body-minds, the women developed an inedit choreography that will follow the song “Woman is the Flame”! This song is also a new composition in 2026WOMEN repertoire, which emerged in one of our creative writing sessions at Madam Fortuna in 2025.

This piece will be presented to the public in our upcoming performance in March 26-27, 2026, at Arenberg Theatre, during the 50th Anniversary Tribunal on Crimes Against Women (tickets here). Meanwhile, you can watch the behind-the-scenes of our last performance “Simawe | See My Way”, and listen and watch the music-video of its theme song.

Text: Maria Teresa Bizarria